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Is  Christianity 
A  Failure? 


WHAT  IS  CHRISTIANITY? 


Is  it  fair  to  judge  Christianity  by  its 
fruits  ? 

What  are  the  fruits  of  Christianity 
if  not  the  deplorable  conditions  of  Chris- 
tendom today? 

Does  Christianity  encourage  and  ap- 
prove of  wars  ?  If  not,  why  do  Christian 
nations  war  between  themselves? 


Copyrighted  June    1922 


EPITOME 


Refined  stealing  and  graft  are  legalized  and  taught 
in  all  Christian  countries,  while  crude  stealing  and  rob- 
bery are  penalized. 

What  we  call  "crime  waves,"  is  simply  a  slopping  over 
of  the  refined  crime  ever  present  in  our  dishonest  busi- 
ness system. 

A  certain  class  of  people  do  their  stealing  according 
to  law  and  custom,  and  live  "respectably,"  in  fine  homes 
without  doing  any  useful  work  with  hands  or  brain,  for 
the  society  off  of  which  they  live,  while  another  class  envy 
them,  and  in  trying  to  pattern  after  them,  do  their  steal- 
ing illegally  and  spend  most  of  their  time  in  jail.  Legally 
speaking,  the  first-named  class  is  honorable  and  the  other 
class  is  criminal.  Morally  speaking  both  classes  are  crim- 
inal. Few  of  us  are  held  up  or  injured  by  the  "crime 
wave"  crowd,  while  everybody  is  robbed  by  the  legalized 
stealing  people.  Both  classes  have  the  get-something- for- 
nothing  idea  strong.  In  fact,  we  all  have  this  demoraliz- 
ing idea  more  or  less,  and  we  need  a  religion  that  will  edu- 
cate us  away  from  it. 

Most  everyone  desires  and  hopes  for  an  inheritance;  a 
lucky  number  in  a  raffle  or  lottery;  the  finding  of  a  well 
filled  purse ;  a  "commission"  or  rake-off  on  a  deal  of  some 
kind  regardless  of  whether  we  intend  to  render  an  equiv- 
alent or  whether  we  are  worthy  of  it.  And  our  present  re- 
ligion (Christianity)  cannot  consistently  protest,  because 
it  teaches  the  something-for-nothing  idea  which  rests  on 
dishonesty. 

When  we  get  something  for  nothing,  some  one  else 
usually  gets  nothing  for  something,  which  is  not  fair,  for 
the  same  reason  that  stealing  is  not  fair. 

Humanity  needs  a  reformed  church  advocating  a  scien- 
tific, practical  and  universal  religion  that  will  teach  the 
individual  not  to  covet  something  for  nothing  in  this  life 
or  the  life  to  com'e ;  a  church  and  religion  that  will  broad- 
cast moral  intelligence  so  that  we  all  can  have  real  liberty 
of  both  mind  and  body. 


FOREWORD 

In  order  to  write  intelligently  on  the  subject  of  this 
book,  it  seems  to  me  necessary  to  do  that  which  I 
would  greatly  prefer  not  to  do.  But,  as  is  often  the 
case  in  clearing  land,  we  must  first  burn  up  a  lot  of 
rubbish  and  plow  under  much  decayed  matter  as  well 
as  destroy  an  occasional  hornet's  nest,  it  will  be  neces- 
sary, if  we  are  to  improve  our  earthly  conditions,  to  clear 
our  mental  land  of  much  rubbish  by  passing  the  fire  of 
reason  over  it  and  burn  error  to  a  crisp,  leaving  a  clear 
seed  bed  for  a  crop  of  new  ideas  to  take  root  among  the 
good  ancient  ideas  that  survive  the  cleaning  process, 
where  all  may  grow  and  blossom  into  a  higher  and  better 
civilization. 

Two  hornet's  nests  must  be  stirred  up :  entrenched 
superstitions,  ignorance  masking  as  religion,  and  en- 
trenched greed  and  selfishness  masking  as  "the  greatest 
financial  system  on  earth."  Those  who  make  a  good 
easy  living  out  of  their  religion  and  those  who  make  a 
better,  easier  living  out  of  our  financial  system,  and  think 
more  of  that  living  than  of  common  humanity,  will  play 
the  hornet  act.  This  is  the  reason  why  religion  is  a  dead 
thing,  a  hindrance  to  progress  instead  of  a  living  help  to 
humanity  in  its  fight  for  betterment. 

I  believe  our  present  religion  and  churches  stand 
squarely  in  the  path  of  progress,  hindering  instead  of 
helping  us  to  a  more  refined  state  of  society;  that  it  is 
our  duty  to  purify  our  religion  and  reform  our  churches 
and  set  them  to  work  for  us  right  here  on  earth,  or  form 
a  new  religious  or  church  movement  that  will  crowd  the 
old  aside,  if  it  refuses  to  act,  and  do  something  real  for 
our  earthly  welfare.  For,  if  we  ever  have  any  better 
earthly  social  conditions,  it  will  be  the  churches  that 
bring  about  those  better  conditions.  No  other  human 
agency  could  cement  the  great  common  people  of  earth 
together  strong  enough  and  long  enough  to  accomplish 


49 


4  IS  CHRISTIANITY  A  FAILURE? 

a  victory  over  organized  greed  and  selfishness.  The 
unrest  is  world  wide  and  the  cure  must  be  world  wide 
also.  Nothing  but  a  religious  movement  will  cure  our 
political  and  economic  ills  and  bring  real  and  lasting 
peace  to  earth. 

My  faith  in  a  Supreme  Intelligence  leads  me  to  be- 
lieve that  the  time  will  come  when  men  will  be  com- 
paratively free  from  poverty,  crime  and  misery,  and 
that  it  is  the  duty  of  us  all  to  do  whati  we  can  to  hasten 
that  day. 

I  do  not  wish  to  be  understood  as  a  religious  busy- 
body, caring  only  to  carry  out  my  own  fads  and  impose 
my  own  imperfect  ideas  of  religion  on  my  neighbors. 
I  wish  to  unselfishly  work  to  increase  human  knowledge, 
virtue  and  happiness.  I  do  not  wish  to  see  the  mind  of 
anyone  enslaved  on  any  subject.  I  would  like  to  see 
earthly  conditions  made  better  for  all,  and  for  this 
reason  alone  I  would  join  a  religious  or  church  move- 
ment whose  main  object  would  be  to  gather  together 
intelligent,  moral  people,  regardless  of  their  individual 
religious  views,  in  churches  to  work  for  a  better  civi- 
lization ;  a  civilization  with  an  economic  system  in  which 
every  person  will  get  justice  or  a  near  approach  to  it; 
will  get  all  he  or  she  earns  or  produces  or  its  equivalent, 
and  in  which  each  able  bodied  normal  adult  will  be 
compelled  to  produce  or  earn  all  he  or  she  gets,  other 
than  that  which  is  a  willing  gift  from  others ;  a  civilizaton 
in  which  poverty  will  come  to  no  one  who  does  not  court 
or  desire  it;  a  civilization  that  would  care  for  the  help- 
less sick,  crippled  and  aged,  as  tenderly  and  willingly 
as  it  would  care  for  its  helpless  infants. 

I  do  not  care  to  be  the  cause  of  any  one  changing 
his  religion  or  other  mental  garments  any  more  than  I 
would  care  to  be  the  cause  of  him  changing  his  coat 
or  shoes.  I  would  like  to  see  every  person  keep  the  re- 
ligion that  suits  his  mental  development  best.  The  more 
ignorant  and  unthinking  a  person  is  the  more  dogmatism 
and  superstition  will  enter  into  that  person's  religion, 


IS  CHRISTIANITY  A  FAILURE?  5 

and  I  think  it  is  best  that  it  should  be  so.  On  the  other 
hand  the  more  intelligent  and  thoughtful  a  person  is, 
the  more  scientific  that  person's  religion  will  be,  and 
ordinarily,  it  does  no  good  and  often  much  harm,  to  argue 
on  purely  religious  matters.  Each  person  is  bound  to 
have  a  religious  view  suitable  to  his  or  her  stage  of  in- 
tellectual development  and  should  be  allowed  to  enjoy 
it  in  peace  as  long  the  welfare  of  others  is  not  jeopar- 
dized. I  believe  that  it  is  not  wrong  to  think  and  use 
my  reason  on  religious  matters.  I  cannot  accept  a  reli- 
gion from  ancients  of  whose  truth  and  veracity  I  know 
absolutely  nothing,  any  more  readily  than  I  would  accept 
a  deed  to  the  Niagara  Falls  from  a  modern,  without 
question.  But  I  do  not  care  to  argue  with  a  person  who 
would  do  so,  and  will  not  bother  such  persons'  pet 
theories  as  long  he  dosen't  clutter  the  path  of  progress 
with  them.  When  a  man  believes  in  and  preaches  the 
"divine  right  of  kings  to  rule,"  to  the  actual  hindrance 
of  democracy,  or  the  "fall  of  man"  to  the  actual  hindrance 
of  "the  rise  of  man,"  or  "vicarious  atonement"  to  the 
actual  hindrance  of  individual  and  collective  progress 
and  evolution,  I  will  do  what  I,  can  to  disturb  his  right 
to  believe  and  teach  such  things,  simply  because  he  is 
injuring  his  fellow  man  by  such  believing  and  teaching. 

I  believe  we  must  purify  our  religion  and  place  it 
above  our  government.  That  we  must  even  make  our 
religion  our  constitution,  as  all  governments  are  huge 
man-made  gods  with  no  heart  or  conscience,  with  only 
intelligence  of  a  low  selfish  order,  needing  a  religion 
to  guide  them,  so  they  will  not  become  monstrous  devils 
with  power  to  kill  at  will  and  spread  disaster  and 
mourning  over  an  earth  that  should  bring  forth  mostly 
happiness. 

This  is  why  I  drag  religion  into  the  following  dis- 
cussion of  what  might  commonly  be  called  purely  politi- 
cal and  economic  affairs.  Religion  is  the  foundation  of 
human  affairs.  There  is  something  the  matter  with  our 
foundation.  It  is  self-evident  to  everyone  that  our 


6  IS  CHRISTIANITY  A  FAILURE? 

earthly  affairs  are  in  a  bad  shape.  They  could  be  worse, 
they  could  also  be  better.  Let  us  try  to  make  them 
better. 

I  do  not  wish  to  injure  any  ones  feelings,  especially 
the  feelings  of  honest,  well  meaning  people.  I  wish 
to  proceed  in  a  constructive  strain,  breathing  good-will 
and  an  honest  intention  to  enlighten  and  consolidate 
humanity,  instead  of  antogonizing  and  separating 
people.  All  I  wish  to  do  is  separate  people  from 
religious  and  economic  error,  so  the  world  will  be 
better  and  happier.  I  will  proceed  to  tell  what  I  believe 
to  be  the  truth.  Judge  for  yourselves. 

In  the  following  pages  I  have  recorded  a  protest 
against  "something  for  nothing,"  against  people  trying 
to  get  something  of  value  without  giving  its  just  equi- 
valent in  payment. 

Interest  on  money  is  the  greatest  "something  for 
nothing"  scheme  on  earth.  It  is  refined,  civilized  slavery 
so  subtle  that  the  slaves  do  not  suspicion  it.  Its  victims 
are  as  proud  of  the  badge  of  slavery  as  a  dog  with  a  brass 
collar  bearing  the  name  of  his  master. 

The  wrongs  that  I  am  protesting  against  are  thou- 
sands of  years  old.  Interest  on  money,  and  false  religion, 
especially,  were  fought  by  Aristotle,  Plato,  Plutarch, 
Cato,  Cicero,  Seneca,  Guatama,  Confucius,  Jesus  and 
hundreds  of  other  great  men  before  and  since  their  time. 

We  moderns  must  fight  jfalse  religion  .because  it 
crowds  out  and  occupies  a  space  in  our  minds  that  true 
religion  should  occupy.  We  must  fight  heathen  religions, 
heathen  Christianity  included. 

Heathen  Christianity  is  the  vile  and  senseless  ideas 
and  customs  woven  around  and  injected  into  the  teach- 
ings of  Jesus  of  Nazareth,  by  Constantine  and  dishonest 
priests  of  old,  and  kept  alive  by  priests  of  our  day,  by 
hypnotising  and  dwarfing  the  minds  of  children  who 
never  grow  up  mentally.  There  is  more  heathen  Chris- 
tianity taught  in  modern  times  than  there  is  Jesus  of 
Nazareth  Christianity. 


IS  CHRISTIANITY  A  FAILURE?  7 

There  is  more  religious  error  and  trash  on  earth 
today  than  there  should  be,  and  the  only  way  to  get  rid 
of  it  is  to  expose  it  and  not  gloss  it  over  as  most  of  our 
writers  do. 

Religious  error  causes  most  of  our  political  and  eco- 
nomic error.  We  must  have  a  religious  house  cleaning. 
Hard  times,  strikes,  poverty  and  wars  can  be  abolished 
by  a  new  religious  movement. 

Interest  on  money  is  condemned  by  Leviticus  chap. 
25,  par.  36 ;  Deuteronomy  chap.  23,  par.  19 ;  Psalms  chap. 
15,  par.  5;  Ezekiel  chap.  18,  par.  8  and  17;  Luke  also 
preaches  against  interest  on  money.  Jesus  drove  the 
"money  changers"  out  of  the  temple,  but  money  chan- 
gers flourish  today  more  than  ever.  The  word  "usury'1 
in  the  Bible  means  "interest"  and  "profit."  This  word 
means,  today,  an  entirely  different  thing;  it  means  "too 
much"  interest  now.  In  reading  the  Bible  remember 
that  "usury"  means  "interest." 

Now  in  reading  what  I  have  to  say,  do  not  get  the 
idea  that  I  am  laying  all  the  blame  on  priests  and  money 
changers.  They  are  not  individually  and  entirely  to 
blame.  They  are  simply  making  the  best  of  circum- 
stances over  which  they  have  but  little  control.  It  is 
the  system  that  breeds  them  and  the  great  common 
people  of  earth  are  responsible  for  the  system.  I  am 
trying  to  show  what  is  wrong  and  how  to  correct  it. 
I  realize  that  my  writings  are  crude;  that  I  repeat  very 
often ;  that  I  quote  the  words  of  others  often ;  that  there 
is  not  an  idea  or  thought  in  the  whole  book  that  is  new 
or  original  with  me;  that  most,  if  not  all,  that  I  write 
about,  was  written  thousands  of  years  ago.  Many  times 
I  have  flattered  myself  that  I  had  a  new  thought  and 
then  accidentally  discovered  the  same  idea  in  nearly  the 
same  language,  written  by  some  Greek,  Chinese  or 
Hindoo,  three  thousand  years  before  my  time. 

So  please  consider  that  all  I  write,  is  what  men  said 
before  I  was  born.  I  am  simply  helping  to  pass  some  of 
the  truth  these  men  taught,  on  to  you.  If  it  aids  you, 


8  IS  CHRISTIANITY  A  FAILURE f 

give  credit  to  my  teachers,  Plato,  Confucius,  Jesus  and 
others.  If  it  injures  you,  blame  me  for  keeping  alive 
the  error  of  those  men. 

I  have  no  personal  grievance,  it  is  for  others  I  write. 
I  am  above  want  and  the  fear  of  it.  I  can  battle  with 
present  unjust  economic  conditions  and  succeed.  I  under- 
stand the  system.  So  do  not  get  the  idea  in  your  head 
that  you  would  be  doing  me  a  favor  by  "believing" 
the  truth  I  am  trying  to  tell  you  for  your  own  benefit. 

It  is  really  against  my  personal,  selfish  interest  to 
abolish  interest  on  money,  as  my  main  income  is  derived 
through  interest  on  money. 

Why  do  I  take  interest  if  I  know  it  to  be  morally 
wrong?  For  the  same  reason  that  I  pay  interest  every 
time  I  purchase  the  necessities  of  life.  Read  what  1 
have  to  say  in  the  following  pages,  "not  to  contradict  or 
believe,  but  to  weigh  and  consider." 

The  world  unrest  is  caused  by  wrong  thought — 
everybody  trying  to  get  something  for  nothing,  and 
only  a  few  succeeding.  The  result  is  wars,  crime  waves, 
strikes,  hard  times,  unmerited  poverty  and  unemploy- 
ment. 

The  proposed  remedy  is  a  new  world-wide  church 
movement,  teaching  economic  as  well  as  religious  truth, 
crystalizing,  educating  and  enforcing  public  opinion. 
An  intelligent  church  influence  is  the  hope  of  civilization. 

F.  J.  EDDY, 
Van  Nuys,  Cal. 

Jan.  1922 


SOMETHING  FOR  NOTHING 

The  something  for  nothing  idea  is  what  causes  all, 
or  most  all,  of  our  main  troubles. 

The  something  for  nothing  idea  is  started  by  Chris- 
tianity, by!  the  "vicarious  atonement"  idea,  the  idea 
that  we  can  sin  and  some  one  else  can  and  will  suffer 
for  us,  and  that  we  gain  the  great  prize  of  heaven  while 
Jesus  pays  the  great  price.  We  are  getting  something 
for  nothing,  something  that  we  did  not  work  for  and 
honestly  earn.  It  causes  Christian  thought  to  get  lazy, 
indolent  and  stagnant  and  sentimentally  criminal;  for 
it  is  criminal  to  expect  something  for  nothing.  If  you 
expect  love  give  love,  if  you  expect  money  give  money 
or  its  equivalent,  if  you  expect  heaven  for  yourself  from 
Jesus  or  through  Jesus  or  anyone  else  above  you,  then 
give  heaven  to  those  below  you.  Give  as  much  heaven 
as  you  expect  and  suffer  as  much  for  those  below  you  as 
Jesus  suffered  for  you.  If  you  expect  Jesus  to  *be 
actually  nailed  to  a  real  wooden  cross  with  real  iron 
nails,  with  real  hot,  red  blood  running  down  his  body, 
or,  if  you  expect  to  take  a  benefit  from  such  an  actuality, 
I  say  if  you  expect  this  of  Jesus  and  are  willing  to  accept 
it  as  your  ticket  to  heaven,  then  you  are  dishonest  and 
selfish  if  you  are  not  willing  to  suffer  the  same  actual 
torture  for  those  below  you.  If  you  are  not  willing  to  have 
actual  iron  nails  driven  into  your  quivering  flesh  and 
actual  hot  blood  dripping  from  your  body  for  "the  least 
of  these  your  brethren,"  then  you  are  a  fraud;  you  are 
trying  to  get  and  are  willing  to  accept,  something  for 
nothing,  which  is  dishonest. 

The  something  for  nothing  worm  has  eaten  holes 
all  through  our  business  philosophy ;  it  has  fairly  honey- 
combed our  business  methods  and  practices.  The  banker 
tries  to  get  and  control  all  the  money  he  can  and  then 
lend  it  and  collect  all  the  interest  he  can,  regardless  of 
the  welfare  of  the  borrower.  The  merchant  buys  as 


10  _JS  CHRISTIANITY  A  FAILURE? 

cheap  as  he  can  and  sells  for  all  he  can  get  out  of  the 
consumer,  taking  advantage  of  the  consumer's  necessity. 
If  the  buyer  can  purchase  for  one  cent  a  peck  and  sell 
for  one  dollar  a  peck,  when  one  cent  a  peck  will 
pay  him  for  his  services  and  expenses,  clearing  98  cents 
per  peck  as  "profit,"  he  is  considered  a  fine  business  man, 
and  a  good  Christian,  and  what  is  worse,  no  one  can 
see  any  wrong  in  the  transaction.  Everybody  admires 
the  merchant's  foresight  in  buying,  his  buisness  ability 
in  general,  and  considers  him  a  "smart"  man,  envying 
him  and  wishing  they  had  opportunity  to  do  the  same 
thing.,  Here  is  the  deplorable  part  about  it.  Religion 
and  business  have  dulled  their  moral  perception  to  such 
an  extent  that  they  not  only  see  no  wrong  in  it,  but 
approve  of  it,  and  are  dreaming  and  hoping  that  some 
day  they  will  be  able  to  do  the  same.  Now  if  we  were 
all  able  to  do  this,  where  would  we  land?  Why,  we 
would  land  in  the  middle  of  a  perfect  economic  system, 
as  things  would  be  evened  up.  I  would  steal  98  cents  a 
peck  of  you  and  then  you  could  steal  98  cents  a  peck 
from  me  and  we  would  be  even.  But  the  trouble  is,  that 
it  is  only  a  few  that  get  away  with  it.  The  great  majority 
never  get  the  chance  to  do  any  stealing  in  business  and 
be  honored  for  it;  and  be  looked  up  to  as  being  "smart." 
But  the  great  majority  are  just  as  unconsciously  dis- 
honest as  the  few,  they  are  patiently  waiting  for  a  chance 
to  do  it. 

One  person  says :  Admitting  this  to  be  true,  what 
is  your  remedy?  The  reply  is:  Correct,  honest,  "do- 
as-you-wish-to-be-done-by,"  thought.  I  am  working  on 
the  remedy  right  now.  I  am  trying  to  get  people  to  see 
that  there  is  something  wrong,  and  what  that  something 
is.  This  is  the  first  step.  The  second  step  is  to  correct 
the  wrong  and  there  is  only  one  way  to  do  a  thing  and 
that  is,  to  get  in  and  do  it.  Like  Roosevelt  built  the 
Panama  Canal,  which  could  not  be  built  because  the 
country  through  which  it  was  to  be  built  would  not  allow 
it,  etc.,  etc.  Roosevelt  went  to  work  and  made  a  country 


IS  CHRISTIANITY  A  FAILURE?  11 

that  would  allow  it.  The  right  and  proper  thing  can  al- 
ways be  done  if  men  will  to  do  it.  But  they  must  first  see 
the  necessity  of  it.  My  business  is  mainly  to  help  show 
the  necessity  of  building  a  new  economic  system. 

Now  the  gambler  and  the  hold  up  man  has  the  some- 
thing-for-nothing  idea  to  some  extent,  only  not  so  bad 
as  the  Christian  and  the  business  man,  because  the  gam- 
bler risks  his  money  and  the  hold-up-man  risks  his  life 
trying  to  get  something  for  nothing  while  the  Christian 
risks  nothing  to  get  into  heaven,  all  he  has  to  do  is  lay 
his  load  of  sins  on  another's  back  and  just  drift  into 
heaven  on  the  stream  of  love  and  blood  pouring  from  the 
heart  of  the  murdere4  Jesus.  While  the  -successful 
business  man  does  not  risk  much  either,  when  he  is 
"smart"  and  lucky  enough  to  buy  for  one  cent  and  sell 
for  one  dollar.  The  cautious  intelligent  business  man 
understands  our  economic  system  to  perfection  and 
rarely  takes  any  risk  worth  speaking  of  as  compared 
to  the  gambler  and  the  hold-up-man.  Of  course  the 
smarter  the  business  man  and  the  more  money  he  already 
has,  the  less  risk  he  takes.  The  really  big  business  men 
have  a  "cinch" — a  "graft."  They  nearly  always  make 
it  pay,  while  the  gambler  and  hold-up-man  never  makes 
it  pay.  They  just  live  in  hopes  that  it  will  pay  some 
time.  But,  alas,  that  time  never  comes,  never  will  come, 
because  they,  as  well  as  the  Christian  and  the  business 
man,  are  selling  their  souls  for  a  mess  of  pottage.  They 
are  all  trying  to  get  something  for  nothing.  The  Chris- 
tian wants  salvation  for  nothing  but  his  "belief."  He 
refuses  to  have  nails  driven  in  his  body  and  real  thorns 
jammed  into  his  brow  so  that  he  may  thereby  purchase 
an  eternal  home  of  happiness  in  heaven.  "Belief"  is  an 
easy — very  easy — thing  to  give,  while  being  nailed  to 
a  cross  is  a  very  hard  thing  to  give.  He  is  trying  to 
get  something  of  more  value  to  him  than  a  universe  of 
worlds,  and  for  what?  Just  "belief"  in  an  ancient  fairy 
tale,  dream  at  best.  The  Christian  starts  this  dishonest 
idea  of  greed  and  graft.  He  is  trying  to  get  something 


12  IS  CHRISTIANITY  A  FAILURE? 

for  nothing.  And  the  reason  why  I  dwell  so  much  on 
the  Christian  is  because  he  sets  a  bad  example  to  the 
gambler  and  the  hold-up  gun-man  as  well  as  the  business 
man. 

Purified  Christianity  will  teach  salvation  by  no  other 
means  than  hard  work,  study,  thought,  and  purified, 
desires.  This,  and  this  only,  is  what  Jesus  of  Nazareth 
taught. 

Another  class  of  people  who  make  a  pretty  good 
living  out  of  the  something  for  nothing  idea  is  the  real 
estate  men.  While  they  give  value  received  occasional- 
ly, they  should  not  be  blamed  too  much  for  breaking  the 
long  established  and  universally  accepted  rule  of  "do 
your  best  to  get  something  for  nothing."  They  will 
often  introduce  you  to  some  one  and  then  send  you  a 
bill  for  two  or  three  thousand  dollars  "commission,"  and 
if  you  know  what  is  good  for  you,  you  will  pay  the  com- 
mission bill  the  "minit"  you  receive  it.  Some  think  the 
real  estate  men  are  as  greedy  and  grasping  as  bankers, 
but  I  am  certain  they  are  not,  because  if  they  were 
they  would  be  bankers  themselves.  They  make  a 
pretense  of  giving  you  something  for  your  money.  You 
can't  deny  that  you  received  the  "introduction." 

But  the  biggest  get — somthing — for — nothing  scheme 
that  mortal  man  has  ever  invented,  the  emperor  of  all 
grafts,  is  "interest  on  money."  It  is  a  sponge  that 
subtly  absorbs  the  great  common  people's  surplus  above 
a  very  common  living,  and  gives  it  to  the  "money 
changers"  of  earth  as  their  legal  own,  without  the  "money 
changers"  rendering  a  just  equivalent  for  said  surplus. 

It  works  so  mysteriously  and  so  presistently  that  its 
victims  never  suspicion  but  what  it  is  morally  honorable. 

Interest  on  money  is  the  crime  of  the  ages.  No  in- 
terest on  money  should  ever  be  expected  or  taken  by 
any  one  other  then  the  government,  as  compensation  to 
cover  the  actual  cost  of  printing  or  coining  and  cir- 
culating money.  Unless  our  government  should  deem 
it  wise  and  best  to  use  interest  on  money,  as  the  main 


IS  CHRISTIANITY  A  FAILURE?  13 

source  of  raising  revenue  with  which  to  maintain  govern- 
ment ;  as  it  would  be  a  simple  and  effective  way  of  col- 
lecting taxes  without  employing  a  horde  of  tax  gatherers. 
The  burden  of  taxation  through  this  method  would  fall, 
ultimately,  on  the  consumer,  as  it  should.  The  consumer 
should  pay  according  as  he  enjoys.  If  he  uses  a  penny 
pencil  to  write  an  article  showing  the  dishonesty  of  our 
present  system,  he  should  not  pay  as  much  tax  as  the 
man  who  uses  a  fountain  pen  to  apologize  for  and  uphold 
the  "money  changers"  that  succeeded  the  ones  Jesus 
drove  from  the  temple. 

To  illustrate  the  power  of  interest  on  money  to  rob 
the  people  we  will  take  one  dollar  and  let  it  out  at  com 
pound  interest  for  eight  years  at  ten  per  cent,  or  fifteen 
years  at  five  per  cent,  and  it  will  double  itself.  Now  you 
may  let  the  one  dollar  represent  all  the  money  in  the 
world  and  what  do  you  have?  A  pretty  bad  state  of 
affairs  for  any  one  but  a  "frenzied  financier"  to  comtem- 
plate. 

All  the  money  in  the  world,  let  out  at  compound 
interest  at  five  per  cent.,  would  double  itself  in  about 
fifteen  years,  and  in  practice  there  is  no  other  kind  of 
interest  but  compound  interest ;  or  worse  yet,  as  it  is  the 
practice  of  money  lenders  to  draw  their  interest  every 
three  or  six  months  and  immediately  let  the  interest  out 
on  interest  with  the  exception  of  what  they  might  choose 
to  reserve  for  current  expenses.  And  all  the  money  in 
the  world  at  ten  per  cent,  compound  interest  will  double 
itself  inside  of  eight  years. 

Now  suppose  the  money  changers  loaned  all  the 
money  in  the  world  to  the  common  people  just  eight 
years  at  ten  per  cent,  compound  interest.  At  the  end  of 
eight  years  it  will  take  all  the  money  in  the  world  to  pay 
the  interest  on  all  the  money  in  the  world,  so  where  are 
the  people  going  to  get  the  money  to  pay  the  principal 
which  also  amounts  to  all  the  money  in  the  world? 

Just  take  your  time  to  answer.  Take  eight  years 
if  you  like  and  in  the  mean  time  the  original  unpaid 


14  IS  CHRISTIANITY  A  FAILURE? 

principal  will  be  doubling  itself  by  means  of  interest  on 
money,  while  the  mone'jy)  changers  must  necessarily  loan 
back  to  the  people  the  "all  the  money  in  the  world" 
just  paid  to  the  money  changers  as  interest  on  the  origi- 
nal "all  the  money  in  the  world"  which  now,  at  the  be- 
ginning of  the  second  eight  years  becomes  a  new  or 
second  principal  loaned  back  to  the  people,  because  the 
people  must  have  money  to  do  business  on. 

Now  at  the  end  of  the  second  eight  years  what  do 
we  find?  simply  this.  The  people  owe  the  money 
changers  twice  all  the  money  in  the  world  as  principal 
and  twice  all  the  money  in  the  world  as  interest  after 
having  paid  at  end  of  the  first  eight  years,  all  the  money 
in  the  world  to  the  money  changers  as  interest. 

In  other  words,  at  the  end  of  sixteen  years  the  people 
owe  the  money  changers  four  times  "all  the  money  in 
the  world"  with  only  once  "all  the  money  in  the  world" 
with  which  to  pay  the  debt  after  having  paid  the  money 
changers  once  "all  the  money  in  the  world,"  eight  years 
before.  In  sixteen  years  the  people  must  pay  the  money 
changers  five  times  all  the  money  in  the  world.  How 
can  they  do  it? 

It  just  cannot  be  done,  and  in  actuality  it  never  is 
done.  The  principal  is  paid  in  money  and  the  interest 
is  paid  in  products. 

How  money  does  increase!  In  sixteen  years  it  has 
increased  from  once  "all  money  in  the  world"  to  five 
or  six  times  all  the  money  in  the  world,  without  really 
increasing  one  dollar.  The  theory  that  money  increases, 
that  money  "works,"  is  a  false  theory  and  must  be 
discarded. 

Some  may  say  that  I  am  unreasonable  in  placing 
interest  rate  so  high,  and,  just  to  be  accomodating,  I 
will  reduce  the  interest  rate  one  half,  although  many, 
many  people  pay  ten  per  cent,  and  even  more. 

Now  at  five  per  cent  compound  interest,  "all  the 
money  in  the  world"  will  be  paid  to  the  money  changers 
of  the  world,  five  times  possibly  six  times,  inside  of 


IS  CHRISTIANITY  A  FAILURE?  15 

thirty  years.  One  of  the  times  a  payment  is  made, 
the  payment  is  discharging  a  just  debt,  the  first 
principal.  The  other  four  or  five  payments  of 
"all  the  money  in  the  world,"  are  payments  of  in- 
terest on  money  by  the  common  people  of  earth  to  the 
"money  changers,"  which  is  mostly  dishonest  graft  on 
the  part  of  the  money  changers  and  tribute  paid  by  the 
people. 

These  four  payments  are  not  actually  made  in  money, 
as  I  have  shown,  they  could  not  be.  It  would  be  a 
physical  impossibility.  The  only  payment  that  is  made 
in  money  is  return  of  the  principal. 

The  money  changers  of  earth  use  "interest  on  money" 
as  a  civilized  means  of  getting  "something  for  nothing." 
Just  divide  thirty  years  by  four  and  you  have  seven  and 
one  half.  Theoretically  every  seven  and  one  half  to 
ten  years  the  common  people  of  the  earth  pay  the 
"money  changers"  of  earth  all  the  money  of  earth  as 
returned  borrowed  principal  together  with  products 
equal  in  value  to  all  the  money  of  earth  as  'interest" 
on  all  the  money  of  earth. 

My  critics  will  say  that  I  am  just  jumbling  facts. 
That  I  am  just  juggling  with  a  fool  theory.  I  admit 
that  I  am  just  working  on  a  "fool  theory,"  but  it  is  the 
"money  changers"  own  theory.  It  is  their  theory  that 
money  increases  of  itself.  That  money  "works."  That 
money  "grows"  and  will  double  itself  in  a  certain  number 
of  years.  It  is  their  theory  that  "interest  on  money" 
is  proper,  is  honorable  and  right.  I  have  taken  the 
money  changers  "fool  theory"  and  used  reason  to  show 
it  up  as  a  "fool  theory." 

No  one  can  deny  that  if  all  the  money  in  the  world 
is  placed  on  interest  for  a  term  of  years,  that  the  interest 
will  equal  the  principal  in  time  and  that  when  that  time 
arrived  either  the  interest  or  principal  would  necessarily 
have  to  remain  unpaid  if  payment  had  to  be  made  in 
cash.  This  proves  that  money  does  not  increase,  grow 
or  work. 


16  IS  CHRISTIANITY  A  FAILURE? 

Do  you  see  what  helps  to  make  hard  times  every 
seven  to  ten  years? 

Every  seven  to  ten  years  the  "money  changers"  of 
earth  gather  in  all  the  money  of  earth  as  well  as  all  the 
surplus  products  of  earth.  The  men  and  women  who 
did  all  the  producing  have  neither  money  or  products. 
They  must  freeze,  starve,  wear  rags  and  exist  some- 
how while  those  who  produced  nothing,  fairly  wallow 
in  plenty  and  luxury. 

The  "money  changers"  and  their  servile  apologists 
call  it  "over-production,"  "lack  of-  foreign  trade,"  and 
blame  the  tariff,  the  Democrats,  or  just  anything,  to  fool 
the  people  while  we  are  going  through  these  periodical 
"hard  times."  The  "money  changers"  used  to  take  our 
hide  off  by  jerks  and  when  we  cried  out  and  danced 
around  in  pain  they  called  it  a  "panic."  The  Federal 
Banking  Act  has  help  to  civilize  the  skinning  process 
somewhat,  but  does  not  lessen  the  amount  of  hide  we 
give  up  to  the  "money  changers"  every  so  often. 

Now  when  the  "money  changers"  get  all  tne  money 
and  all  the  surplus  products,  they  do  not  care  to  lend 
money  to  producers  to  start  production  again  until  they 
are  rid  of  their  surplus  that  interest  on  money  has 
accumulated  for  them.  They  have  more  of  everything 
than  they  can  consume  and  naturally  wish  to  sell  the 
surplus  before  allowing  more  to  be  produced  and  held 
by  themselves.  And  in  the  mean  time  the  men  who  did 
the  producing  must  merely  exist,  because  they  have 
but  little  money  with  which  to  buy  back  from  the 
"money  changers"  the  products  they  themselves  pro- 
duced but  which  "money  changers"  unjustly  acquired 
through  "interest  on  money." 

This  is  the  main  reason  why  we  have  hard  times 
regularly.  There  are  other  causes,  but  I  will  not  men- 
tion them  here.  If  a  person  knows  the  general  average 
rate  of  interest,  the  date  of  the  ending  of  the  last  "hard 
times,"  he  can  figure  out  just  about  when  the  next  hard 


IS  CHRISTIANITY  A  FAILURE?  17 

times  will  strike  the  producers,  by  making  due  allowance 
for  a  few  other  things. 

The  time  in  question  will  be  when  interest  on  money 
gathers  up  all  the  money  again;  or  in  other  words, 
when  money  through  interest  theoretically  doubles  it- 
self again,  and  the  interest  or  principal  must  be  paid  in 
products.  Interest  is  a  great  sponge  that  soaks  up  all 
the  money  in  the  country  every  seven  to  ten  years.  The 
money  changers  own  the  sponge  and  wring  it  out  by 
means  of  "loans"  and  then  let  it  soak  the  money  back 
again  in  due  time.  When  the  money  changers  begin  to 
wring  the  sponge,  times  begin  to  get  "good,"  and  when 
the  sponge  is  drawing  up  the  last  money,  times  are  the 
hardest  for  the  common  people,  producer  and  consumer 
alike  ;  neither  has  money  with  which  to  transact  business. 
But  the  "money  changer"  never  has  "hard  times"  unless 
it  is  when  everybody  else  has  the  best  of  "times"  and 
prices  are  high,  and  the  "money  changers"  dollar  will 
buy  only  one  half  what  it  will  when  times  are  hard  for 
the  producer.  "Hard  times"  for  producers  are  "good 
times  for  "money  changers."  Their  dollars  are  worth 
twice  as  much  then. 

Some  may  say:  "You  are  wrong;  when  times  are 
hard  the  farmers  have  to  hoard  their  grain,  and  the 
graineries  filled  to  capacity  during  hard  times  belong 
to  the  producers,  the  farmers."  This  is  a  fact  in  theory 
only.  It  is  a  technical  fact,  not  a  real  one  because 
every  sack  of  grain  owned  by  the  average  farmer  is 
mortgaged  to  the  "money  changers"  for  all  it  will  sell 
for,  after  expenses  are  paid.  The  "money  changers" 
not  only  own  the  grain  through  mortgage  but  have 
mortgages  on  the  farmers'  ranches  also,  for  all  they  are 
worth  in  hard  times,  as  well  as  at  other  times. 

I  wish  to  emphasize  and  make  plain  that  interest 
on  money  is  a  million-headed  man-made  monster  that 
covers  the  earth  with  its  slimy  carcass  and  thrusts  its 
snake-like  tentacles  into  the  pocket  book  of  every  widow, 
every  orphan,  every  cripple,  every  invalid  as  well  as 


18  IS  CHRISTIANITY  A  FAILURE? 

into  all  the  pocket  books  of  all  the  common  people  of 
earth  jsilently  and  subtly  stealing  from  one  twentieth  to 
one  half  of  the  contents  of  all  such  pocket  books.  If  I  do 
not  succeed  in  doing  this,  it  will  be  because  I  lack  the 
ability,  and  it  will  still  be  a  fact  just  the  same. 

How  many  homes  in  the  United  States  are  not  mort- 
gaged? How  many  business  firms  do  not  pay  heavy 
interest?  How  many  newspapers  in  this  "land  of  the 
free  and  home  of  the  brave"  dare  publish  what  I  write? 
Most  publishers  are  heavy  money  borrowers  and  should 
they  print  something  reflecting  on  their  masters,  the 
money  lenders,  they  would  be  put  out  of  business  rather 
unceremoniously.  This  is  why  you  will  see  nothing"in 
the  papers"  about  interest  on  money  being  dishonest. 

World  unrest  and  crime  waves  are  blind,  unintelli- 
gent, desperate  protests  against  previous,  as  well  as 
present  injustice.  These  protests  are  effects.  You  will 
never  learn  the  causes  by  listening  to  the  average 
preacher,  banker,  politician  or  editor.  They  do  not  know 
and  would  not  tell  if  they  did  know.  They'd  lose  their 
jobs  if  they  told. 

You  must  quit  thinking  other  peoples  thoughts  if 
you  really  wish  to  know  what  causes  wars,  crime  waves, 
hard  times  etc.,  and  how  to  stop  them. 

If  Christianity  is  a  failure  you  should  know  it.  If  it 
is  not  a  failure  you  should  find  out  what  it  is  and  follow 
it. 


GOVERNMENT   OWNERSHIP   OF  MONEY 

Money  has  been  rightfully  named  the  "life  blood  of 
a  nation."  Without  money,  civilization  cannot  exist; 
diversified  and  specialized  labor  cannot  be  carried  on. 
Does  any  one  deny  this? 

Now  if  money  is  the  life  blood  of  a  nation  the  general 
welfare  of  any  nation  will  depend  a  great  deal  upon 
the  condition  of  its  life  blood.  There  must  be  some 
certain  amount  or  volume  of  money  necessary  to 
produce  a  healthy  business  state  of  affairs  in  a  nation. 
There  must  be  some  best  system  of  keeping  the  nation's 
life  blood  circulating  properly,  so  as  to  avoid  business 
stagnation.  The  more  and  faster  money  circulates  the 
livelier  business  is. 

Now  if  money  is  the  life  blood  of  a  nation  who 
should  own  and  control  it?  Should  private  citizens  own 
and  control  the  nation's  life  blood,  or  should  the  nation 
itself  own  and  control  its  own  life  blood? 

The  "frenzied  financiers"  of  this  country  will  no 
doubt  disagree  with  me,  but  I  am  one  who  believes  that 
our  nation  should  own  and  control  its  own  life  blood. 
I  believe  it  dangerous  and  harmful  to  allow  private 
citizens  who  are  responsible  to  no  one  for  their  financial 
acts,  to  own  most  of,  and  control  all  of  our  nation's 
life  blood,  our  medium  of  exchange ;  the  thing  that  our 
business  life  and  death  depends  on ;  and  the  condition 
of  which,  can  make  business  good  or  bad — good  for 
the  few  and  bad  for  the  many.  It  seems  certain  to  me 
that  this  power  over  the  nation's  life  blood  should  be 
vested  in  government,  entirely  exempt  from  any  con- 
trol whatever  of  a  less  number  of  private  citizens  than 
a  majority. 

There  must  be  some  approximately  correct  rules  and 
methods  that  should  be  strictly  followed  in  order  to 
bring  about  the  best  general  favorable  results;  the 
greatest  good  to  the  greatest  number. 


20  IS  CHRISTIANITY  A  FAILURE r 

Now  would  it  not  be  better  for  the  general  welfare 
of  our  people  to  take  the  ownership  and  control  of  our 
nation's  life  blood  out  of  the  hands  of  private  citizens 
entirely  and  place  said  ownership  and  control  in  the 
hands  of  a  special  non-political,  but  financially  scientific, 
department  of  our  general  government,  where  finances 
can  be  studied,  and  methods  conservatively  improved 
from  time  to  time  as  experience  and  progress  shows  the 
necessity  and  advisability?  Run  like  our  postal  system 
is;  for  the  good  of  all  our  people,  keeping  in  close  touch 
with  the  business  world  and  aiding  in  all  ways  possible, 
issuing  instructions  that  will  lessen  the  frequency  and 
period  of  "hard  times,"  if  not  do  away  with  them  alto- 
gether. 

I  am  certain  that  hard  times  are  unneccessary  and 
can  be  abolished  by  our  government  owning  and  con- 
trolling our  nation's  life  blood. 

This  taking  over  and  controlling  our  medium  of 
exchange  need  not  be  any  sudden  or  rash  act.  [It  can 
all  be  accomplished  in  a  gradual  manner  so  as  not  to 
disturb  or  harmfully  affect  current  business  at  all,  when 
it  is  once  decided  to  be  the  proper  thing  to  do.  I  do 
not  believe  in  confiscating  or  condemning  anything.  We 
should  buy  and  pay  for  whatever  is  necessary  to  make 
the  change  from  private  citizens  control  to  government 
control  of  our  nation's  life  blood. 

The  question  of  whether  it  is  desirable  to  make  the 
change  should  be  decided  before  going  into  details  of 
how  to  make  it  .  It  is  a  very  easy  matter  to  do,  if  a 
majority  of  our  people  think  it  best. 

It  is  purely  a  question  of  whether  the  tremendously 
important  control  of  our  nation's  life  blood  should  remain 
in  the  hands  of  selfish,  grasping,  irresponsible  private 
citizens  who  are  continually  scheming  against  the  public 
good  and  for  their  own  private  good,  or  should  be  placed 
in  the  hands  of  a  government  department  whose  sole 
object  is  to  serve  the  public,  and  to  that  end  study  and 
systematize  and  scientifically  superintend  and  watch 


IS  CHRISTIANITY  A  FAILURE?  21 

over  our  finances  so  as  to  keep  our  business  in  the  best 
of  health  at  all  times. 

Of  course  some  bankers  will  oppose  this.  They  will 
not  be  able  to  dig  up  of  invent  language  strong  enough 
to  condemn  the  suggestion.  Their  contention  will  be 
that  our  government  is  not  honest  enough  and  does 
not  know  enough  to  run  banking  business.  But  I  will 
meet  that  argument  by  suggesting  that  our  government 
just  hire  these  same  bankers  who  are  so  honest  and 
smart,  to  work  for  the  government  at  a  good  salary  and 
run  the  government  banks  for  us.  This  would  be  much 
better  than  for  our  government  to  have  a  big  banking 
business  on  its  hands  and  no  honest  or  competent  men 
to  run  it. 

The  question  to  be  decided  is  this:  Which  is  best, 
the  government  to  own  and  control  its  own  life  blood 
or  a  few  bankers  own  and  control  it? 

Now  there  is  bound  to  be  two  answers  to  this  question 
The  bankers  will  say  that  it  is  best  for  the  bankers  to 
own  and  control  the  nations  life  blood.  And  I  agree 
with  them.  That  is,  I  believe  that  it  is  best  for  the 
bankers. 

On  the  other  hand  I  also  believe  that  it  would  be 
best  for  the  business  men  and  farmers  of  the  nation  to 
have  our  government  take  over  and  run  its  own  life 
blood.  Line  up  people.  Take  sides  with  the  bankers,  or 
take  sides  with  yourselves.  Of  course  a  lot  of  you  will 
side  with  the  bankers  because  you  are  hoping  to  be 
bankers  some  day. 


HARD  TIMES 

Why  do  we  have  "hard  times"  every  few  years  in 
America?  Hard  times  means  unemployment,  lack  of 
business,  a  lot  of  suffering,  inharmony  and  disorder. 

The  only  inharmony  in  the  universe  that  I  know  of, 
outside  of  a  little  made  by  vicious  lower  animals,  is  the 
inharmony  made  by  foolish,  greedy  men  and  women. 

This  is  a  beautiful  world,  lovely  place  to  live,  and 
the  only  reason  we  are  not  always  prosperous  and  happy 
is  because  we  are  continually  trying  to  go  contrary  to 
the  laws  of  nature;  getting  out  of  harmony  with  truth 
and  justice. 

Hard  times  come  and  go  every  few  years  like  clock 
work.  Many  people  know  the  causes  and  profit  by 
them,  while  millions  of  our  hard  working  citizens  do  not 
suspicion  the  causes  and  lose  heavily  of  their  hard  earned 
products,  by  these  unnecessary,  periodical  "hard  times." 

These  seasons  of  depression  are  always  preceded  by 
seasons  of  activity  and  speculation ;  the  depressions  be- 
ing looked  upon  as  the  reaction  from  the  speculation. 

The  abstract  cause  of  hard  times  is  an  unjust  econo- 
mic system.  A  system  that  is  absolutely  and  positively 
contrary  to  the  teaching  of  Jesus  of  Nazareth,  and  should 
be  studied,  understood  and  denounced  by  every  true 
follower  of  Jesus.  The  time  is  ripe  for  the  churches  of 
our  land  to  compel  the  politicians  to  incorporate  into 
our  economic  system  the  teachings  of  Jesus. 

Now  coming  down  to  the  concrete,  the  main  cause 
of  hard  times  is  the  lack  of  ready  money  to  transact 
business,  to  plant  and  cultivate,  to  harvest,  move  and 
sell  crops  and  other  labor  products,  yes  and  to  buy 
crops  and  other  labor  products.  A  lack  of  money  felt 
by  the  producer  and  consumer  alike.  Why  is  this? 
There  are  a  hundred  surface-reasoning  answers  to  this 
and  every  one  of  them  wrong,  yea,  worse  than  wrong ; 
it  is  a  crime  for  sleek  well-fed  men  to  sit  back  in  their 


IS  CHRISTIANITY  A  FAILURE?  23 

easy  chairs  in  finely  furnished  offices  and  utter  them, 
through  ignorance  or  cupidity,  while  thousands  of  in- 
dustrious men  and  women  with  their  little  ragged  fami- 
lies try  to  make  a  decent  living  and  merely  exist  during 
"hard 'times." 

The  cause  of  hard  times  and  panics  is  the  misuse  of 
money.  Using  it  to  speculate  on,using  it  to  get  something 
for  nothing.  Using  it  to  gamble  on  and  to  graft  with. 
Using  it  in  a  manner  and  for  purposes  for  which  it 
should  not  be  used.  Using  it  as  a  legal  jimmy  to  pry 
unearned  supplies  out  of  other  peoples'  storehouses. 
Using  it  for  other  purposes  than  a  medium  of  exchange 
of  products,  a  separate  book-keeping  account  between 
the  individual  and  society  in  general.  Money  should 
be  owrned  by  the  government  and  use  by  its  citizens 
only  to  exchange  products,  brain  labor,  manual  labor 
and  that  which  is  produced  by  either  or  both.  The 
citizens  should  pay  the  government  the  actual  cost  of 
the  service,  which  would  be  small. 

The  widow  taking  in  washing  to  feed  and  cloth  her 
children  must  pay  a  tribute  of  one  tenth,  often  more, 
of  her  hard  earned  money  to  well  dressed  idlers  lounging 
in  luxury  who  have  a  legal,  subtle  means  of  compelling 
her  to  do  so;  compelling  her  to  give  to  them  a  good 
portion  of  what  she  produces,  for  which  she  gets  no 
equivalent  in  exchange.  How  do  they  do  it? 

A  greater  part  of  our  business  is  run  principally  on 
borrowed  money  on  which  interest  is  paid  ultimately 
by  the  consumer.  The  widow  being  a  consumer  pays 
interest  when  she  buys  from  the  grocer.  The  grocer 
acts  as  tax  collector  for  the  well  dressed  modern  "money 
changers,"  followers  of  Jesus — the  red  blooded  man  who 
drove  the  "money  changers"  out  of  the  temple ;  men  who 
live  off  of  interest  on  money.  They  are  supported  by  all 
who  work  and  produce,  without  working  or  producing 
anything  themselves.  Under  our  present  economic  sys- 
tem this  is  legal  and  highly  honorable.  Under  a  correct 
system  this  would  be  robbery.  Don't  blame  the  indivi- 


24  IS  CHRISTIANITY  A  FAILURE? 

duals.     It  is  the  system  that  is  at  fault  and  not  one 
person  in  a  dozen  knows  it,  or  seems  to  care. 

This  question  of  interest  on  money  is  one  of  the 
great  economic  evils  to  be  corrected,  and  one  of  the 
hardest  to  correct  on  account  of  the  false  idea  having 
gained  such  a  hold  on  the  minds  of  men  for  the  last 
two  or  three  thousand  years ;  one  that  causes  the  people 
who  produce,  to  lose  billions  of  dollars  annually  to  the 
people  who  do  not  produce ;  one  of  the  hardest  to  correct 
because  of  the  fact  that  we  must  fight  the  arrogance  of 
false  learning,  must  come  out  in  the  open  while  glutted 
greed  and  graft  skulking  behind  the  forest  of  age  old 
customs,  hurling  bombs  of  sarcasm,  ridicule  and  cunning 
sophistry  at  common  people,  with  the  constant  sneer 
that  they  are  not  brainy  enough  to  grasp  financial  ques- 
tions and  that  they  seek  to  destroy  civilization.  The 
champions  of  our  present  "frenzied  finance"  dare  not 
come  out  in  the  open  and  talk  plain  reason,  justice  and 
the  rights  of  men.  Their  battle  cry  will  be  the  rights 
of  dollars,  the  rights  of  property.  They  forget  that 
man  was  made  by  God  and  that  dollars  were  made  by 
men,  to  be  their  servants,  not  their  masters.  They  ignore 
the  fact  that  dollars  are  lifeless  inert  matter.  That 
men,  not  dollars,  sweat,  till  the  soil  and  produce;  that 
men  should  use  dollars  as  tools,  as  they  use  the  plow, 
the  freight  car,  the  auto,  as  tools  only.  They  will  re- 
peat catchy  phrases  such  as  "let  your  dollars  work  for 
you  while  you  sleep,"  which  will  command  the  attention 
of  the  ears  of  the  ignorant  and  lull  them  into  beautiful 
dreams,  while  our  present  vampire  financial  system  sucks 
their  lifeblood.  Remember,  morally  speaking,  if  your 
dollars  work  for  you  while  you  are  asleep,  your  dollars 
are  burglars,  snooping  around  your  neighbors  hen  roost, 
stealing  from  your  neighbor  while  you  are  asleep  so 
that  you  may  enjoy  when  awake. 

Dollars  are  like  fire,  a  fine  servant  of  man  properly 
handled,  but  a  very  demon  when  beyond  his  control. 
Dollars  at  present  are  beyond  the  control  of  the  great 


IS  CHRISTIANITY  A  FAILURE?  25 

common  people.  They  are  under  the  control  of  irre- 
sponsible individuals — that  is,  individuals  who  do  not 
have  to  report  to  the  people  regarding  their  conduct. 
To  explain  my  meaning  somewhat  clearer  I  will  draw 
your  attention  to  a  litttle  of  our  most  recent  financial 
history  here  in  the  greatest  country  on  earth,  where 
every  voter  is  a  sovereign!  Where  the  people  rule! 

You  all,  no  doubt,  remember  during  the  last  days  of 
the  reign  of  Woodrow  Wilson,  he  had  much  to  say 
about  the  high  cost  of  living  and  seemed  to  have  done 
all  in  his  power  to  try  and  bring  it  down.  Congress 
also  took  a  hand  in  the  talk  game  but  backed  off  whipped. 
It  was  plainly  demonstrated  that  the  great  American 
Government  was  powerless  to  do  anything  for  the  great 
common  people  of  America,  the  common  people  that  Mr. 
Lincoln  said  God  must  love  because  He  made  so  many 
of  them.  But  something  was  done  a  few  months  after  the 
government  quit  trying,  and  by  whom  was  it  done  ?  By  a 
few  men  disconnected  from  our  government;  men  who 
are  not  elected  by  the  people  and  are  not  responsible 
to  the  people  for  their  financial  acts,  but  men  who  had 
the  power  to  bring  down  prices  with  leaps  and  bounds 
and  men  who  actually  did  do  it;  did  something  that  our 
great  government  did  not  seem  able  to  do.  How  did 
they  do  it?  Well  Til  tell  you,  I  must  first  explain  a 
few  things.  I  do  not  wish  to  give  out  the  wrong  impres- 
sion. I  do  not  wish  any  one  to  misconstrue  my  meaning. 
I  am  trying  to  do  good  and  I  do  not  wish  to  do  more 
harm  than  good  in  my  attempt.  I  am  not  blaming  the 
individual;  I  am  blaming  the  system  under  which  all 
individuals  must  act  and  none  but  the  majority  can 
change. 

The  heads  of  our  financial  system,  acting  within 
their  rights  as  we  at  present  understand  those  rights, 
sent  a  circular  broadcast  to  all,  or  at  least  a  majority  of 
the  banks  of  our  nation  to  "call  in  loans."  Why?  They 
knew  why  and  that  is  quite  sufficient.  I,  also,  know, 
but  that  doesn't  matter  or  in  fact  is  another  story.  The 


26  IS  CHRISTIANITY  A  FAILURE? 

point  I  am  trying  to  make  plain  is  that  a  few  private 
individuals  have  powers  that  should  remain  in  the  hands 
of  majorities  only;  in  governments  representing  ma- 
jorities. When  the  various  banks  throughout  our  coun- 
try received  this  notice  they  followed  its  command  or 
advice  and  began  to  "call  in  loans."  This  meant  that 
merchants  must  get  money  from  some  other  source 
than  banks,  as  all  banks  were  in  the  "calling"  instead  of 
"loaning"  business.  The  only  way  they  could  do  it  was 
to  sell  goods  quick,  at  reduced  prices  of  course.  Easy 
wasn't  it,  when  the  right  men  got  on  the  job?  Impos- 
sible for  Congress  representing  the -people  but  easy  for 
a  few  bankers  representing  themselves. 

Financial  and  economic  affairs  are  not  too  intricate 
for  the  average  mind  and  until  the  average  mind  studies 
such  questions  we  will  have  the  same  discord  and  un- 
happy conditions.  The  same  short  "good  times"  and 
the  same  long  "hard  times"  with  strikes,  lockouts,  un- 
employment, misery,  soup  kitchens  and  bread  lines  we 
have  had  in  the  past,  with  all  kinds  of  charity  and 
paliative  measures  to  relieve  the  situation  every  so  often. 
This  is  week-day  Christianity. 

What  we  need  is  a  nearer  approach  to  exact  justice 
and  there  will  be  no  more  man-made  hard  times.  All 
the  hard  times  I  have  experienced  in  my  life  grew  out 
of  an  unjust  economic  system  and  not  from  natural 
causes,  such  as  general  lack  of  crop.  Every  hard  times 
I  have  gone  through  was  caused  by  too  much  of  every- 
thing, therefore  the  ones  who  produced  it  must  starve 
and  freeze.  Seems  strange,  but  pure  logic,  if  our  present 
economic  system  is  a  correct  premise. 


GALLEY  SLAVES 

Remember,  interest  on  money  is  never  really  paid 
in  money.  It  is  always  paid  in  labor,  in  service,  in 
produce,  in  sweat,  in  time,  in  slavery. 

God  Almighty  made  time ;  days,  nights  and  years. 
Men  made  money ;  nickles,  dimes  and  dollars.  Scheming, 
brutal,  dishonest  men  trade  their  man-made,  cheap, 
article  for  your  God  made,  valuable  article,  Time,  by 
means  of  interest  on  money.  They  cheat  you,  they 
enslave  you  and  you  honor  them  for.it. 

Dollars  are  man  made,  dead,  lifeless,  and  cannot  re- 
produce themselves.  Grains  of  wheat  are  God  made  and 
can,  and  do  reproduce  themselves.  People !  quit  trading 
your  precious  God  made  articles  for  shoddy  man  made 
goods. 

God  made  bright  sunny  days  for  men  to  enjoy — all 
men  to  enjoy.  He  also  made  rainy  days  for  their  benefit, 
to  teach  them  lessons,  as  men  learn  by  experience. 

Now  God  evidently  intended  that  each  man,  woman 
and  child  should  have  his  or  her  proper  allotment  of 
sunny  days  as  well  as  rainy  days  so  as  to  round  out  and 
balance  their  characters,  and  make  wiser,  happier  men 
and  women  of  them.  But  now  comes  along  a  few  hypo- 
critical, shallow  brained,  lazy  and  dishonest  men  and 
invent  "interest  on  money"  which  aids  them  to  steal 
your  happy  sun  shiny  days  from  you  and  then  you  will 
have  all  rainy,  worry-work-and-strive  days  while  the  in- 
venters  and  users  of  interest  on  money  have  all  bright 
sunny  days  throughout  their  lives. 

In  olden  times  the  people's  masters  chained  them 
to  oars  of  war  boats,  pleasure  boats,  and  boats  of  com- 
merce. The  people's  rulers  made  galley  slaves  out  of 
them. 

To-day  the  people's  mental  masters  chain  them  to 
the  oars  of  their  "mortgage"  boats,  their  "bond"  boats 
and  their  "loan"  boats.  All  working  people  are  chained 


28  IS  CHRISTIANITY  A  FAILURE? 

to  these  boats  before  they  are  born,  yes,  even  before 
their  parents  have  been  born,  their  bodies  are  doomed 
to  furnish  the  meat  that  is  to  be  ground  up  to  make  hot 
dog  sandwiches  for  the  "money  changers."  While  they 
are  out  playing  golf,  you  are  hoeing  potatoes  so  they 
may  eat,  and  all  you  get  for  your  work  is  "credit"  for 
so  much  interest  paid  on  loan,  bond  or  mortgage.  While 
they  are  riding  in  their  fancy  autos,  wearing  nice  warm 
clothes  you  are  down  in  the  wet,  chilly,  dangerous 
mines  digging  the  coal  and  iron  to  make  the  autos,  or 
you  are  herding  and  shearing  the  sheep,  in  order  to  get 
the  wool  to  make  the  warm  clothes.  And  what  do  you 
get  for  it?  A  miserable  living  and  credit  for  so  much 
interest  paid.  Where  have  your  bright  sunny  days 
gone?  Who  got  them?  Wake  up,  you  galley  slaves! 
Do  you  want  to  be  free?  It  is  an  easy  matter:  vote 
intelligently  when  you  get  a  chance.  You  are  going 
to  have  that  chance  before  long.  God  pities  you  and 
will  give  you  a  chance  to  save  yourselves. 

When  a  man  charges  you  interest  on  money,  he  sells 
you  Time.  It  would  be  just  as  proper  to  sell  sunshine 
or  air. 

A  money  changer  hands  you  one  dollar;  in  one  mo- 
ment you  hand  it  back  to  him;  no  interest  is  charged 
of  course,  why? 

And  again:  A  money  changer  hands  you  one  dollar; 
in  ten  years  you  hand  it  back  to  him  with  one  dollar 
interest;  why? 

Simply  because  the  money  changer  has  sold  you 
ten  years  of  God's  Time.  You  do  not  look  at  it  that 
way?  Of  course  you  do  not.  You  look  at  it  the  way 
the  "money  changer"  and  your  "get  something  for 
nothing  religion"  has  taught  you  to  look  at  it,  and  you 
will  die  in  poverty  looking  at  it  that  way  rather  than 
look  at  it  right  and  change  the  world  from  misery  to 
happiness.  I  do  not  expect  to  change  your  thoughts  on 
the  subject.  But  that  does  not  worry  me.  My  business 
is  to  tell  you  and  I  am  trying  to  do  it.  This  will  dis- 


IS  CHRISTIANITY  A  FAILURE?  29 

charge  my  obligation  to  you.  If  you  ever  want  the 
system  changed  I  will  be  glad  to  help  you  all  I  can. 

But  before  the  system  can  be  changed  we  must 
change  our  religion.  Our  present  religion  has  generated 
and  scattererd  thought  that  has  produced  our  present 
deplorable  earth  conditions. 

Before  the  world  can  go  forward  it  must  adopt  a 
universal,  world  religion  that  does  not  deal  in  man- 
made  gods.  We  must  have  a  world  religion  that  tries 
to  see,  study  and  know  God  by  studying  and  knowing 
man  and  nature.  We  need  a  broad  intelligent  religion 
that  will  build  moral  character,  the  greatest  and  best 
thing  a  person  can  possess,  which  can  be  developed  only 
by  a  true  religion  taught  in  homes,  schools,  libraries, 
theatres,  churches  and  in  every  day  business  dealings. 
We  need  a  religion  that  teaches  a  broad  intelligent  day- 
light free  and  inspiring  belief  in  a  Creator,  to  take  the 
place  of  a  religion  that  teaches  us  a  dark,  superstitious 
belief  in  a  man-made  god  who  says:  "Believe  or  be 
damned,"  "depart  into  everlasting  punishment,"  "He 
who  denies  me  before  man,  him  I  will  deny  in  heaven." 

Instead  of  a  religion  that  teaches  us  to  be  selfish 
thinking  of  ourselves  and  our  being  saved,  we  need  a 
religion  that  inspires  unselfishness,  idealism,  while  re- 
cognizing a  Supreme  Intelligence,  unknown  and  .un- 
knowable in  so  far  as  mortal  man  is  concerned,  teaching 
the  Fatherhood,  Brotherhood,  a  soul  and  future  life  with 
the  Golden  Rule.  This  is  the  religion  that  Jesus  taught 
but  his  misguided  followers  of  today  add  stories  of 
ancient  murder,  immorality  and  imbecility  to  the  greatest 
religion  on  earth  until  it  becomes  one  of  the  very  worst 
religions  on  earth,  worshiping  a  mythical  man-made  god, 
an  impossible  half-breed ;  a  half  man,  half  god,  weakling. 


FIAT  MONEY 

Not  long  ago  I  noticed  a  popular  writer  of  Chicago, 
takes  Mr.  Ford  and  Mr.  Edison  to  task  for  advocating 
fiat  money. 

It  is  my  opinion  that  if  this  writer  knew  as  much 
in  a  day  as  the  other  two  gentlemen  have  proved  to  the 
world  that  they  know'  in  a  minute,  this  writer  would 
not  have  written  what  he  did. 

While  I  am  not  an  advocate  of  fiat  money  under  our 
present  economic  system,  there  is  no  question  but  what 
fiat  money,  the  ideal  scientific  money,  would  be  the 
proper  thing  under  an  ideal  scientific  economic  system, 
but  we  should  have  the  ideal  economic  system  first,  and 
there  is  no  question  in  my  mind  but  what  Mr.  Ford  and 
Mr.  Edison  had  this  in  mind  when  advocating  fiat  money. 

It  would  be  and  always  has  been  financial  suicidey  as 
this  writer  points  out,  to  enthrone  fiat  money  in  a 
country  run  by  greedy  bankers  and  hungry  politicians, 
and  what  country  is  not  run  by  such  a  gang? 

You  could  not  come  any  nearer  making  fiat  money 
a  success  in  any  government  of  today  than  you  could  in 
making  a  success  of  the  chicken  business  by  getting  a  lot 
of  cayotes  to  guard  your  chickens. 

The  cayotes  would  find  a  way  to  make  the  chicken 
business  unprofitable  for  you.  Under  our  present  econo- 
mic system  the  heartless  greedy  "money  changers" 
would  find  a  way  to  make  fiat  money  a  failure  as  they 
always  have  in  the  past,  with  the  help  of  dishonest 
politicians,  as  this  writer  so  plainly  points  out. 

The  difference  between  this  writer  and  the  other 
two  gentleman  is  this:  he  either  does  not  see  the  in- 
justice and  dishonesty  of  our  present  economic  system, 
or  he  is  not  brave  enough  to  take  a  stand  for  the  people 
against  their  despoilers,  but  prefers  to  act  as  an  apolo- 
gist for  the  "money  changers;"  while  the  other  two 
gentlemen  see  the  wrongs  the  common  people  are  suf- 
fering from  and  are  trying  to  help  correct  them. 


IS  CHRISTIANITY  A  FAILURE?  31 

This  writer  remarks:  "But  a  silver  or  gold  dollar 
will  do  the  work.  A  gold  or  silver  dollar  has  value.  A 
paper  dollar  of  itself  has  not — unless  it  is  redeemable 
at  a  bank  or  mint  for  gold  or  silver." 

Now  such  hypocritical  reasoning  has  been  repeated 
and  exposed  so  many  times  in  the  last  forty  years  in  this 
country  that  I  should  think  a  high  school  boy  would 
know  better  than  to  try  and  use  it  as  mental  dust  to 
throw  in  the  eyes  of  the  people. 

Now  this  writer  should  know  by  actual  daily  ex- 
perience in  purchasing  supplies  to  live  on,  that  no  dollar 
whether  gold,  silver  or  paper,  is  practically  worth  any- 
thing until  it  is  "redeemed"  by  things  to  eat,  wear  and 
enjoy.  What  good  is  your  gold  dollar  if  you  cannot 
trade  it  for  something  to  eat,  clothes,  etc.? 

This  writer  says :  "One  might  as  well  try  to  measure 
calico  by  the  peck  and  wheat  by  the  yard  as  to  measure 
the  value  and  price  of  calico  or  wheat  with  a  strip  of 
paper  that  has  no  value  of  its  own." 

It  is  surprising  to  me  that  a  man  in  this  day  and  age 
can  get  such  words  published  and  get  paid  for  it  too. 

It  is  not  the  "value"  of  the  strip  of  paper  or  the 
metal  disk  that  records  the  value  of  calico  or  wheat  any 
more  than  it  is  the  "value"  of  the  yard  rule  itself  that 
measures  the  amount  of  calico.  A  wooden  rule  will 
measure  the  calico  as  well  as  a  gold  or  silver  rule. 

The  dollar  does  not  establish  the  value  of  the  wheat 
it  merely  records  the  value  and  a  paper  dollar  will  do 
it  as  well  as  a  gold  dollar.  The  "value"  of  the  wheat 
or  calico  is  established  by  numerous  other  circumstan- 
ces. You  may  pay  a  gold  dollar  or  a  paper  dollar  for  a 
bushel  of  wheat  to-day  and  to-morrow  a  profiteer  may 
buy  up  all  the  wheat  and  charge  you  two  gold  dollars 
or  two  paper  dollars  for  a  bushel  of  wheat.  What  power 
has  a  gold  dollar  to  set  the  price?  Of  course  under  a 
fiat  money  system  where  they  print  money  like  news- 
papers and  scatter  it  as  generally  without  regard  to 
the  volume  of  business  transacted,  by  an  irresponsible 


32  IS  CHRISTIANITY  A  FAILURE? 

government,  it  might  take  ten  paper  dollars  or  even 
more  to  buy  what  one  gold  dollar  would  buy.  In  this 
case  the  gold  dollar  would  not  establish  the  value. 
Neither  would  the  paper  dollars  establish  the  value. 

Gold  is  an  ideal  money  under  a  barbaric,  heathenish 
economic  system  and  I  do  not  know  of  any  other  kind 
of  economic  system  on  earth  to-day,  therefore  I  am  un- 
qualifiedly in  favor  of  the  gold  standard  until  we  change 
our  system  to  a  civilized,  Jesus  of  Nazareth  system,  and 
then  bring  on  your  fiat  money  and  I  will  welcome  it. 

Mr.  Ford  and  Mr.  Edison,  you  are  dead  wrong  to 
advocate  fiat  money  without  changing  our  system  and 
killing  interest  on  money.  Mr.  critic  you  are  correct 
in  advocating  a  barbaric  money  for  a  barbaric  people 
and  barbaric  goverment  upheld  by  barbaric  writers. 

The  dollar  should  not  establish  the  price  or  value  of 
anything,  it  should  merely  compute  or  record  the  value. 
A  dollar  should  be,  or  represent,  a  unit  of  credit.  A 
dollar  should  not  be  allowed  to  "measure"  value,  as  the 
term  is  used  at  present.  The  value  or  price  should  be 
named  or  set  by  supply  and  demand,  or  by  the  labor 
required  to  produce  and  deliver  and  by  various  other 
circumstances.  Money  should  have  nothing  to  do  with 
establishing  value  or  price. 

Under  our  present  system  the  supply  of  money  has 
a  large  effect  on  price  which  is  radically  wrong.  As 
money  is  scarce  or  plentiful,  prices  rise  or  fall.  Under 
a  correct  economic  system  money  would  always  be 
plentiful,  never  scarce  for  those  who  had  something  of 
value  to  exchange  and  would  not  affect  price  at  all. 

In  economics  the  word  value  signifies  ratio.  It  means 
the  ratio  in  which  one  article  exchanges  for  another. 
Money  should  keep  books  only. 

"Let  us  imagine  a  transaction  in  the  ordinary  busi- 
ness of  comerce.  Suppose  a  merchant  has  sold  $10,000 
worth  of  goods  to  one  of  his  customers  on  the  basis  of 
thirty  days  credit.  The  customer  gives  his  note  at 
thirty  days  in  payment.  The  merchant  discounts  this 


IS  CHRISTIANITY  A  FAILURE?  33 

note  at  the  bank  in  order  to  obtain  funds  for  the  pay- 
ment of  ordinary  current  expenses  in  the  way  of  wages, 
and  so  forth.  He  asks  the  bank  for  cash  instead  of 
deposit  credit.  In  order  to  obtain  the  cash,  the  bank 
rediscounts  the  note  with  the  Federal  Reserve  bank  of 
the  district  and  obtains  Federal  Reserve  Notes,  which 
are  paid  over  to  the  merchant.  The  note,  upon  which 
the  loan  is  based,  is  now  in  the  hands  of  the  reserve 
agent  of  the  Federal  Reserve  bank.  The  Federal  Re- 
serve notes  are  in  general  circulation  during  the  thirty 
days,  which  is  the  length  of  the  credit  period ;  the  notes 
are  continually  passing  from  hand  to  hand.  The  customer 
however,  is  gradually  selling  the  goods,  receiving  in 
payment,  we  may  suppose,  Federal  Reserve  notes,  which 
he  deposits  with  his  bank." 

"  At  the  end  of  thirty  days,  when  the  note  is  mature, 
the  reserve  agent  calls  upon  the  bank  which  indorsed 
the  note  to  repay  the  loan.  Usually,  the  Federal  Reserve 
bank  will  send  the  note  to  the  member  bank  for  collec- 
tion. The  member  bank,  thereupon,  sends  the  note  to 
the  man  who  signed  it  originally,  that  is,  the  customer 
who  has  been  selling  the  goods  during  the  preceding 
thirty  days.  He  pays  the  amount  by  drawing  upon  the 
money  he  has  deposited  in  his  bank.  This  money  is 
represented,  we  may  assume,  by  the  Federal  Reserve 
notes  collected  in  payment  for  the  goods.  In  turn  these 
notes  are  handed  to  the  bank,  which  turns  them  over  to 
the  Federal  Reserve  bank.  The  Reserve  bank,  therefore, 
has  received  back  the  notes  which  it  issued  on  the  secu- 
rity of  the  commercial  paper,  and  this,  being  paid,  is 
now  cancelled.  At  the  same  time,  the  Reserve  notes  are 
also  retired  from  circulation." 

To  sum  up  the  whole  transaction,  therefore,  we  may 
say  that  the  sale  of  the  $10,000  worth  of  goods  gave  rise 
to  the  provision  of  the  amount  of  currency  necessary  to 
finance  the  operation.  As  soon  as  the  sale  is  consumated, 
the  goods  in  the  hands  of  the  ultimate  consumers,  and 


34  IS  CHRISTIANITY  A  FAILURE? 

the  payment  received,  the  currency  which  was  issued  is 
cancelled." — Graham  Laing. 

The  above  illustrates  scientific  money  very  well. 
We  have  it  at  present,  but  allow  the  money  changers  to 
use  it  so  as  to  bleed  the  people.  All  we  need  to  do  is 
take  the  knife  (interest  on  money)  away  from  the  money 
changers  and  the  bleeding  will  promptly  end. 

The  great  majority  of  people  take  our  present  state 
of  society  for  granted,  as  being  necessary.  They  never 
imagine  that  there  could  be  a  better  state  of  society  in 
which  greed,  poverty  and  crime  could  be  greatly  lessened 
if  not  quite  destroyed,  if  a  majority  of  mankind  only 
intelligently  willed  it  so.  Except  in  isolated  cases, 
poverty  as  well  as  "hard  times"  are  man-made  and  need 
never  be,  under  a  correct  economic  system. 

I  wish  to  repeat  that  one  of  the  greatest  causes  of 
poverty  and  "hard  times"  is  the  unjust  practice  of  taking 
interest  on  money.  All  people  pay  interest  on  money 
whether  they  borrow  money  or  not.  Interest  always 
adds  to  prices  which  ultimately  rests  upon  the  consumer. 
The  manufacture  or  importer  borrows  money  and  will 
add  the  interest  he  has  to  pay,  to  his  selling  price  to 
the  wholesaler,  who  in  turn  adds  it  to  his  price  to  the 
retailer,  the  retailer  adds  it  to  his  price  to  the  consumer 
and  the  consumer  pays  interest  on  interest,  and  profit 
on  interest,  which  adds  greatly  to  price  to  the  consumer, 
who  pays  very  large  interest  when  he  pays  for  what  he 
buys. 

The  idea  on  which  interest  on  money  is  based  is  the 
idea  that  causes  most  of  our  troubles.  It  is  the  idea  of 
getting  something  for  nothing.  Getting  what  the  other 
fellow  works  hard  for  without  giving  him  an,  equivalent. 
It  is  a  subtle  invention,  to  accomplish  this  without  the 
other  fellow  realizing  it.  And  it  works.  It  works  so 
well  that  if  anyone  suggests  to  the  poor  dupes  who  pay 
interest,  that  they  should  be  getting  the  use  of  money 
from  the  government  at  cost  instead  of  paying  money 
lenders  from  six  to  twenty  five  per  cent,  they  will  im- 


IS  CHRISTIANITY  A  FAILURE?  35 

mediately  straighten  up,  look  wise  and  talk  foolish  about 
the  great  mistake  of  having  a  paternal  government. 
Sometimes  I  think  no  one  but  a  crank  would  ever  attempt 
to  try  and  better  conditions  when  the  people  to  be 
benefitted,  the  people  who  are  carrying  the  "money 
changers"  on  their  shoulders,  appear  to  be  so  well  satis- 
fied with  their  lot.  But  there  is  a  reason  for  this.  It 
is  because  the  "money  changers"  propaganda  is  con- 
tinually before  their  eyes.  It  is  the  wrong  sort  of 
education  they  are  getting  on  all  occasions.  Their  reli- 
gion teaches  them  wrong;  "slaves  obey  your  masters." 
Their  political  teachers  teach  them  to  hurrah  for  their 
country,  right  or  wrrong,  and  so  on  down  the  line.  They 
are  to  be  pitied  more  than  blamed  but  nevertheless 
they  must  be  blamed,  because,  \vhile  breaking  their 
backs  to  pay  interest,  they  are  dreaming  of  the  day 
when  they  will  be  on  the  other  side  of  the  interest 
question ;  when  they  will  be  receiving  interest  instead 
of  paying  it ;  w'hen  they  can  lay  back  in  an  easy  chair 
in  fine  offices  and  clip  coupons,  smoke  good  cigars,  tell 
yarns  and  enjoy  life  at  other  peoples  expense.  The 
average  interest  payer  has  no  more  use  for  the  fellow 
who  is  trying  to  make  life  worth  living  for  him,  than 
the  ancient  brutal  men  had  for  Jesus. 

We  all  pay  interest  whether  we  borrow  money  or  not. 
Any  one  who  consumes,  pays  from  one  twentieth  to 
one  half  more  for  what  he  consumes  on  account  of  in- 
terest on  money. 

All  interest  on  money  is  morally  wrong  when  taken 
by  private  individuals.  The  government  is  the  only 
agency  that  could  justly  demand  interest  on  money 
under  a  civilized  economic  system.  Interest  in  that  case 
being  the  actual  cost  of  the  service,  on  the  same  prin- 
ciple as  carrying  letters  at  actual  cost.  A  service  a 
civilized  government  owes  it's  people.  What  would 
the  rate  of  interest  be  under  the  new  system?  I  do  not 
know.  No  one  can  tell  exactly  any  nearer  than  any  one 
could  tell  what  the  postage  on  letters  would  eventually 


36  IS  CHRISTIANITY  A  FAILURE? 

be  when  or  before  our  postal  system  was  established. 
Had  any  one  said  then,  that  in  time  a  letter  could  be 
sent  from  New  York  to  San  Francisco  and  back  again 
for  two  cents,  he  would  have  been  laughed  at.  How- 
ever, the  rate  would  be  low,  very  low,  so  low  that  it 
would  appear  rediculously  low  to  us  of  today. 

But  what  would  the  money  lenders  do  ?  What  did  the 
saloon  keepers  do  when  saloons  went  out  of  style?  How 
would  it  do  for  the  money  lenders  to  live  off  of  thejr 
capital,  off  of  their  dollars,  instead  of  using  their  dollars 
to  rob  people  with,  as  long  as  their  present  dollars 
lasted ;  and  when  they  are  all  gone,  just  quietly  go  to 
work  at  brain  labor  or  hand  labor  and  earn  some  more 
dollars  to  exchange  for  good  things  of  life,  and  not  use 
their  dollars  in  robbing  their  financially  weak  and  ig- 
norant neighbors  through  interest  on  money.  The  time 
will  come  when  it  will  be  considered  just  as  dishonest 
to  cheat  a  person  by  taking  interest  on  money  from  him 
as  it  would  be  to  cheat  him  by  means  of  mathematics, 
by  false  figuring.  In  both  cases  it  is  taking  advantage 
of  his  ignorance.  Under  our  present  system  it  is  honor- 
able to  cheat  by  taking  interest,  but  dishonest  to  inten- 
tionally, falsely  figure.  "Oh,  my,"  says  some  one,  "you 
are  just  going  to  destroy  all  business,  there  will  be  no 
individual  incentive  left  in  life."  That  is  just  what  the 
pirates  of  old  said  while  being  strung  up  to  the  nearest 
tree,  and  why  should  we  not  expect  modern  "interest" 
pirates  to  say  the  same  thing  when  they  feel  the  halter 
draw. 

One  man  said  to  me :  "If  I  earn  a  dollar  at  labor 
why  havn't  I  got  a  moral  right  to  let  that  dollar  along 
with  many  other  dollars  I  have  labored  for,  go  to  work 
for  me  and  earn  more  money  for  me?"  I  answered,  that 
for  the  simple  reason  that  dollars  cannot,  and  do  not 
work.  It  is  only  people  and  animals  that  work.  It  is 
men  that  plant  and  harvest  crops.  It  is  men  that  build 
houses  and  manufacture  clothing.  Dollars  do  not  do 


IS  CHRISTIANITY  A  FAILURE?  37 

such  things,  so  you  must  necessarily  quit  repeating  the 
fiction  that  dollars  actually  work. 

He  answered:  "Well,  you  will  have  to  admit  that 
men  who  plant,  harvest  build  and  manufacture,  neces- 
sarily must  have  money  to  buy  seed,  hire  help  and  pay 
bills  with,  and  if  I  loan  such  men  dollars  for  such  pur- 
poses it  seems  reasonable  to  me  that  I  should  receive 
a  fair  rental  or  "interest"  for  the  loan." 

I  answered  as  follows:  Your  answer  seems  logical, 
fair  and  reasonable  to  a  person  who  has  never  thought 
much  on  such  questions  and  here  is  where  the  trouble 
comes.  You  have  not  thought  deep  enough,  you  merely 
skimmed  the  surface.  In  the  first  place  it  is  necessary 
to  decide  just  what  is  meant  by  the  word  money,  just 
what  it  is,  and  what  it  does.  Scientifically  speaking 
money  is  a  "medium  of  exchange,"  something  that  aids 
us  to  exchange  products ;  for  instance :  if  I  grow  a  sack 
of  potatoes  and  another  man  in  another  county  makes 
a  wheel  barrow,  I,  desiring  a  wheel  barrow  and  the  other 
man  wanting  a  sack  of  potatoes,  money  aids  us  to  ex- 
change products.  I  turn  my  sack  of  potatoes  in  to  society 
or  into  the  general  stock  and  receive  five  dollars  for  it. 
The  man  in  the  next  county  turns  his  wheelbarrow  into 
the  general  stock  and  receives  five  dollars  for  same. 
Now  I  take  my  five  dollars  and  go  buy  the  wheelbarrow 
and  he  takes  his  five  dollars  and  buys  the  sack  of  pota- 
toes. Now  money,  or  dollars,  merely  aided  us  to  ex- 
change products,  acting  as  a  medium  of  exchange  or 
in  a  sense  a  book-keeping  system.  When  I  turn  my 
sack  of  potatoes  into  the  general  stock  of  society,  I 
simply  received  five  dollars  which  acted  as  a  credit  slip 
from  society  showing  that  I  had  produced  five  dollars 
worth  of  things  men  need  and  use.  This  credit  slip 
need  not  have  had  any  intrinsic  value.  Five  dollars  in 
gold,  five  dollars  in  silver,  five  dollars  in  paper  currency 
or  a  credit  of  five  dollars  entered  on  a  little  personal 
book  like  a  bank  book,  were  that  the  custom,  would 
have  been  quite  sufficient.  Then  when  I  wanted  the 


38  IS  CHRISTIANITY  A  FAILURE? 

wheelbarrow  I  could  have  drawn  a  check  or  have  taken 
my  little  "bank  book,"  credit  book,  to  society  and  have 
had  the  five  dollars  credit  received  from  potatoes,  can- 
celled and  could  have  taken  home  the  wheelbarrow/  and 
so  on  throughout  business  transactions. 

All  money  ever  should  be  used  for  is  a  pure  and 
simple  medium  of  exchange.  A  system  of  book-keeping, 
so  producers  can  equitably  exchange  products  and  under 
a  correct  economic  system  our  government  should  furnish 
money  direct  to  it's  citizens  at  actual  cost  of  service 
without  the  intervention  of  private  banks  or  private 
individuals.  A  government  note  printed  on  good  paper 
makes  ideal  scientific  money  especially  for  the  exchange 
of  domestic  products.  It  is  based  on  not  only  all  gold, 
but  also  on  all  the  other  wealth  of  the  nation. 

"My  friend  said :  "Oh  I  see,  you  want  the  govern- 
ment to  go  into  the  banking  business  and  loan  money 
to  Tom,  Dick  and  Harry  without  security,  why,  you'd 
have  the  government  busted  in  no  time." 

My  reply  was  that  I  desired  nothing  of  the  sort. 
That  I  believe  the  government  should  open  banks  and 
loan  money  only  on  the  best  of  security,  on  the  same 
kind  of  security  that  private  banks  loan  money  on  at 
present  and  get  rich  doing  it.  A  great  deal  of  the  money 
that  banks  loan  is  the  people's  money,  not  money  be- 
longing to  the  banks.  The  banks  collect  the  people's 
money  together  without  paying  much  interest  and  then 
loan  it  back  to  a  part  of  the  people  at  as  stiff  a  rate  of 
interest  as  the  traffic  will  bear.  I  would  like  to  see  the 
government  collect  the  peoples'  money  and  loan  it  back 
to  the  part  of  the  people  needing  it,  at  just  what  it  cost 
the  government  to  transact  the  business  without  the 
big  profits  that  bankers  make. 

It  is  the  government's  duty  to  supply  us  with  an 
adequate  medium  of  exchange  direct  from  our  govern- 
ment to  us,  and  not  through  banks  and  money  lenders 
who  stand  between  us  and  the  scource  of  our  medium 


IS  CHRISTIANITY  A  FAILURKr  39 

of  exchange  levying  an  enormous  unjust  tribute  from 
us. 

My  friend  said:  "You  are  trying  to  fix  it  so  if  I 
go  out  and  work  hard  and  earn  a  dollar  I  can't  put  that 
dollar  to  work  and  earn  more  dollars  for  me,  there 
would  be  no  incentive  for  me  to  earn  dollars  under  the 
system  you  propose." 

My  reply  was:  Then  I  understand  you  to  say  that 
if  you  cannot  so  manipulate  your  hard  earned  dollars, 
as  to  get  something  for  nothing,  you  would  not  care 
to  earn  dollars?  You  would  not  care  to  earn  dollars  for 
what  those  dollars  would  buy  you  in  the  open  market? 
You  would  not  care  to  produce  and  exchange  unless 
you  could  cheat  your  neighbor,  or  in  other  words  if  you 
can't  cheat  you  won't  play?  You  would  not  care  to  grow 
five  dollars  worth,  of  potatoes  unless  you  could  trade  it 
for  six  dollars  worth  of  wheelbarrows,  the  extra  dollar 
being  the  interest  on  your  five  dolars  loaned  to  your 
neighbor  during  the  time  you  did  not  need  it?  Under  a 
correct  economic  system  if  your  neighbor  took  care  of 
your  five  dollars  for  you  during  the  time  you  did  not 
need  it  and  returned  it  to  you  in  good  shape  when  you 
did  need  it,  you  would  be  under  obligation  to  your 
neighbor  for  keping  it  safe  for  you  instead  of  your 
neighbor  owing  you  interest,  for  the  reason  that,  if  the 
government  did  its  duty  and  furnished  to  its  citizens 
direct,  all  the  medium  of  exchange  that  they  needed  at 
actual  cost,  which  would  be  very  slight,  your  nieghbor 
would  have  no  need  of  your  money.  But  the  reason 
why  you  can  loan  your  money  to  your  neighbor  today 
at  6,  8,  10%  and  higher  rates  of  interest,  is  because  our 
government  does  not  do  its  duty  towards  its  producers 
and  workers.  It  allows  non-producers  and  wealthy  idlers 
to  use  their  financial  strength  to  rob  the  workers  through 
interest  and  various  other  legal  tricks  too  numerous  to 
mention  here. 

I  do  not  wish  to  be  understood  as  criticizing  the 
Harding  Administration  or  complaining,  in  a  political 


40  IS  CHRISTIANITY  A  FAILURE? 

sense,  about  our  government.  I  believe  that  we  have 
better  men  at  the  head  of  our  government  at  present  than 
we  have  had  for  a  long  time.  What  I  see  as  necessary 
is  an  entirely  reorganized  economic  system  which  will 
necessitate  reorganizing?  our  government  on  broader 
lines.  This  must  be  done  by  a  majority  of  the  great 
common  people  themselves  and  it  is  my  business  to 
help  wake  them  up  to  the  necessity. 

Another  person  said  to  me:  "You  wouldn't  try  to 
get  us  to  adopt  a  new  economic  system  that  would  take 
a  poor  widow  woman's  living  away  from  her  would  you? 
Suppose  a  man  worked  hard  the  greater  part  of  his  life 
and  a  little  past  middle  age  was  killed,  leaving  a  wife 
and  only  ten  thoasand  dollars  in  cash.  Now  this  widow, 
by  working  hard  for  others  a  part  of  the  time  and  rest 
of  the  time  for  her  family,  and  loaning  the  ten  thousand 
dollars  out  at  good  interest,  could  just  manage  to  sup- 
port her  family  and  educate  them.  Now  would  you 
fix  it  so  interest  would  be  killed  and  cause  this  poor 
widow  to  lose  the  greater  part  of  her  income  and  there- 
by cause  great  suffering  to  herself  and  her  babies?" 

The  answer  was:  Your  hypothetical  case  is  far 
fetched.  It  is  not  put  fairly,  the  main  question,  a  moral 
one,  has  not  been  touched.  It  shows  lack  of  thought.  Be- 
fore commenting  on  it  I  will  answer  by  asking  you  a 
question.  Let  us  suppose  there  is  another  man  just 
across  the  street  who  has  worked  hard  the  greater  part 
of  his  life  having  a  wife  and  a  lot  of  babies  also,  and  he 
meets  with  an  accident  and  is  killed,  leaving  certain  ex- 
pensive tools,  secret  formulas,  etc.,  that  his  wife  could 
rent  out  for  enough  to  educate  and  properly  raise  her 
family  on.  Would  it  be  right  to  pass  a  law  not  only 
depriving  her  of  the  right  to  use  these  formulas  and 
tools  herself,  and  of  renting  them  to  others,  but  actually 
confiscating  these  tools  and  formulas  and  giving  her 
nothing  for  them?  His  answer  was:  "It  would  be  brutal 
and  dishonest  to  do  so.  More  so  than  to  deprive  the 
other  widow  of  her  interest  because  in  the  latter  case, 


IS  CHRISTIANITY  A  FAILURE?  41 

what  was  virtually  both  principal  and  interest  were 
taken  away  from  a  helpless  woman  without  giving  her 
a  just  equivalent  as  you  say." 

I  replied :  You  answered  without  knowing  what  kind 
of  tools  and  formulas  they  were.  This  answer  bares  your 
surface,  sentimental  reasoning.  The  tools  were  burglars 
tools  and  the  formulas  were  secrets  in  safe  cracking. 
You  never  let  the  question  of  morality  enter  into  your 
reasoning  in  either  hypothetical  case.  That  is  the  main 
point  I  am  trying  to  make  clear  all  the  way  through. 
The  moral  question.  The  question  of  right. 

There  is  one  important  thing  that  must  not  be  over- 
looked in  the  case  of  the  first  widow  mentioned  and 
that  is :  Had  the  husband  received  all  he  produced  while 
accumulating  his  ten  thousand  dollars ;  had  unjust  in- 
terest, rent  and  profit  not  stolen  about  one  half  of  what 
he  actually  produced  as  he  went  along,  he  would  pro- 
bably have  had  twenty  thousand  dollars  to  leave  his 
family  instead  of  ten  thousand  which  would  have  been 
better  for  the  widow  than  to  allow  her  to  use  the  ten 
thousand  with  which  to  steal  from  others,  while  others 
were  stealing  from  her,  whenever  she  bought  and  paid 
for  the  necessities  of  life ;  as  big  interest  is  added  to  the 
price  of  everything  she  purchased.  Under  a  correct, 
honest  economic  system,  she  would  have  had  twenty 
thousand  dollars  and  no  interest  on  money  added  to  the 
price  of  what  she  bought  to  feed  and  clothe  herself  and 
family,  which  would  have  lowered  the  price  of  everything 
greatly,  and  her  twenty  thousand  would  go  much  further 
under  an  honest  system  than  it  would  under  our  present 
system. 

He  came  back  at  me  thus:  "But,  admitting  all  you 
say  as  true,  if  I  honestly  acquire  dollars  and  loan  them 
to  my  neighbor  I  take  a  risk  and  should  be  compensated 
for  that  risk;  call  it  what  you  may,  interest,  insurance 
or  by  any  other  name.  It  seems  logical  to  me  that  1 
have  taken  a  risk  accomodating  my  neighbor  and  it 


42  IS  CHRISTIANITY  A  FAILURE? 

seems  no  more  than  right  and  just,  that  he  should  pay 
reasonably  for  that  accommodation  and  risk." 

The  answer  was:  Again  you  show  lack  of  broadness 
in  your  reasoning.  You  are  too  selfish.  You  are  think- 
ing only  of  yourself  and  not  of  your  neighbor;  you  are 
not  taking  all  of  humanity  into  consideration.  You  are 
trying  to  establish  the  justness  of  a  genearl  rule,  (of 
taking  interest  on  money)  by  citing  a  specific,  isolated 
case,  ignoring  the  causes  that  brought  about  your  neigh- 
bor's need  of  an  accommodation  from  you  or  any  other 
private  individual.  Had  the  government  in  the  first 
place  done  its  duty,  furinshed  all  the  medium  of  exchange 
to  all  its  financially  responsible  citizens  (citizens  who 
have  something  to  exchange)  at  actual  cost  of  SQ  doing, 
your  neighbor  would  not  have  needed  the  "accommoda- 
tion" from  you.  He  could  have  gotten  it  from  the  govern- 
ment, had  he  been  worthy,  for  one  tenth  part  of  what  you 
could  afford  to  let  him  have  it  for.  Here  is  where  the 
trouble  all  starts,  the  government  failing  to  do  its  duty 
towards  its  citizens,  drives  its  citizens  into  the  financial 
slaughter  pens  of  the  "money  changers,"  and  you  in  a 
very  small  way  become  a  "money  changer"  and  are 
proud  of  it. 

Our  government  tries  to  protect  its  citizens  against 
physical  murderers  but  makes  no  attempt  to  protect  us 
against  financial  murderers,  against  the  financially 
strong  who  are  continually  sucking  the  industrial  life 
blood  of  the  producers  through  "interest  on  money." 
This  is  the  main  cause  of  hard  times  every  so  often. 
They  suck  up  through  interest  and  other  means  until 
they  have  a  surplus.  There  is  too  much  of  everything 
owned  by  the  people  who  did  not  produce  it.  They 
have  all  the  "goods,"  and  all  the  money,  also.  The  men 
who  produced  all  this  surplus  have  nothing  but  expe- 
rience and  that  does  not  seem  to  do  them  much  good, 
for,  after  they  stagger  and  starve  through  a  period  of 
"hard  times  for  producers"  they  are  more  than  willing 
to  go  at  it  again,  and  spit  in  the  face  of  the  fellow  who 


IS  CHRISTIANITY  A  FAILURE?  43 

suggests  that  there  is  a  better  way.  Remember  that 
"Hard  Times"  for  producers  are  "Good  Times"  for  the 
money  lenders ;  the  money  lenders'  dollar  will  buy  twice 
as  much  food,  clothing-  and  dainties  in  hard  times  as  it 
will  buy  in  good  times,  therefore  it  must  be  greatly  to 
the  money  lenders'  interest  to  have  hard  times.  Hard 
times  for  the  great  common  people  is  a  lack  of  money 
among  the  producers  or  workers  to  exchange  their  pro- 
ducts. Graineries  bursting  and  millions  of  willing 
workers  hungry,  who  would  like  to  exchange  their  labor 
for  some  of  that  grain,  but  no  money  to  do  it  with.  The 
harder  the  times  the  higher  the  rate  of  interest.  Do  you 
get  the  point?  Interest  on  money  is  a  banker's  "crop." 
Hard  times  for  the  producers  make  good  "crops"  for  the 
bankers.  Do  you  see  why  we  have  hard  times? 

The  money  lenders  will  tell  you  that  there  isn't 
much  money  in  the  money  lending  game,  just  a  decent 
living,  that  the  idea  of  the  government  lending  money 
direct  to  the  people  on  the  same  security  that  the  banks 
require,  is  lunacy,  that  in  the  first  place  the  government 
is  not  honest  enough  and  does  not  know  enough  and  that 
no  one  but  an  anarchist  or  Mormon  would  suggest  it,  so 
there  now. 

If  you  wish  to  get  dizzy  just  try  to  contemplate 
what  the  compound  interest  on  $100  at  10%  would  be 
for  three  hundred  years.  It  is  over  one  hundred  billion 
dollars.  Then  figure  how  long  it  would  take  a  million  men 
working  every  work  day  without  rest,  at  $5  per  day 
to  produce  the  actual  wealth  represented  by  the  interest 
on  only  $100  for  this  length  of  time,  (it  would  take  over 
30  years)  and  you  may  be  able  to  get  a  faint  idea  of  the 
power  and  dishonesty  of  interest  on  money.  Let  a 
paltry  $100  "work"  a  few  centuries  and  a  million  men 
will  be  its  slaves  for  a  length  of  time  that  will  stagger 
the  imagination.  Then  figure  how  much  one  average 
man  could  earn  at  going  wages,  five  dollars  per  day,  in 
three  hundred  years.  (Less  than  five  hundred  thousand 
dollars.  The  result  will  help  you  to  see  the  light.  The 


44  IS  CHRISTIANITY  A  FAILURE? 

contrast  between  the  result  of  the  actual  work  of  a  man 
and  the  theoretical  work  of  a  few  "Almighty  Dollars" 
represented  by  a  scrap  of  paper  or  a  few  metal  disks, 
will  cause  you  to  see  that  the  real  monarchy  of  earth 
is  "dollars"  in  our  country  and  their  relatives  in  other 
countries.  Dollars  have  been  elevated  above  men  and 
women,  and  must  be  dethroned.  We  must  take  up  the 
work  started  by  Jesus  of  Nazareth  and  drive  the  "money 
changers"  from  earth.  Nothing  but  a  religious,  or  church 
movement  will  do  it.  Jesus  knew  what  he  was  doing, 
come,  Christians  and  follow  Jesus,  really  follow  Jesus. 

Remember  this:  One  hundred  dollars  at  ten  per 
cent,  compound  interest  will  "earn"  two  hundred  thou- 
sand times  as  much  as  one  ordinary  laboring  man  in 
three  hundred  years,  were  it  possible  for  one  man  to 
live  and  work  that  long. 

In  other  words,  $100  will  "earn,"  in  300  years,  as 
much  as  200,000  laboring  men,  at  $5  a  day;  each  man 
working  300  days  for]  300  years. 

In  still  other  words,  one  dollar  in  the  above  illustra- 
tion is  equal  in  importance  to  two  thousand  laboring 
men. 

Each  dollar  "working"  at  the  interest-on-money  job 
continually  for  300  years  as  above  stated  will  "earn"  as 
much  as  two  thousand  men  will  earn  in  the  same  length 
of  time.  One  dollar  equals  two  thousand  men.  This  is 
the  logical  conclusion  of  our  financial  system  carried  on 
uninterruptedly  for  three  hundred  years.  This  shows 
the  possibilities  of  wrong  financial  ideas. 

I  have  not  given  you  the  exact  figures,  right  down  to 
the  dollar,  day  or  man.  If  you  want  these,  figure  it  your- 
self. If  you  think  I  have  placed  the  interest  too  high, 
use  any;  rate  of  interest  you  care  to,  and  the  result  will 
be  bad  enough.  I  am  simply  trying  to  show  you  that 
interest  on  money  is  wrong;  that  our  present  financial 
system  is  a  fraud ;  that  it  enthrones  dollars  and  degrades 
men;  that  it  is  possible  for  one  dollar  in  money,  under 


IS  CHRISTIANITY  A  FAILURE?  45 

our  present  economic  system  to  become  of  as  much 
importance  as  two  thousand  men. 

You  might  say:  "Men  do  not  live  three  hundred 
years,  therefore  you  are  wasting  time  with  'ifsV 

While  men  do  not  live  this  long,  dollars  live  this 
long  and  much  longer,  drawing  their  compound  interest. 
Dollars  live  for  ages  to  oppress  common  and  industrious 
humanity  while  serving  and  elevating  gamblers  and 
grafters.  Dollars  should  live  to  serve  legitimate  trade 
and  business  only.  We  can  get  along  without  gamblers 
and  grafters  as  easily  as  we  can  get  along  without  the 
smallpox. 

Go  easy !  Do  not  blame  the  individual,  either  one 
individual  or  many  individuals  together.  The  fault  alone 
is  with  the  system  and  we  are  all  upholding  the  system 
either  positively  or  negatively.  The  system  was  willed 
to  us  by  the  ancients  who  also  willed  us  many  a  thing 
that  will  stand  a  little  improving,  our  religion  included. 

Individually  speaking  the  average  banker  and  money 
lender  plays  the  game  fairly  according  to  the  rules  laid 
down  by  the  economic  system  we  are  all  subject  to.  No 
blame  is  to  be  attached  to  the  inidividual.  We  must 
build  a  new  system  by  gradually  repairing  the  old,  as 
a  new  bridge  is  being  built  into  an  old  bridge  across  a 
stream,  while  using  the  new  and  old  together  until  the 
new  is  complete,  when  the  old  can  be  entirely  dispensed 
with. 

The  first  plank  in  our  ancient  economic  bridge  sys- 
tem that  we  should  rip  up,  is  the  "interest  on  money" 
plank.  There  are  many,  many  others  to  be  replaced,  but 
this^is  the  first. 

One  person  said  to  me:  "Aren't  we  to  have  any 
banks  or  bankers,  nothing  but  potatoe  producers  and 
wheelbarrow  makers?  It  looks  to  me  like  you  were 
trying  to  tear  down  civilization  and  go  back  to  barbarism. 
Now  just  what  do  you  propose?" 

The  answer  was:  All  I  am  trying  to  do,  is  to  put  the' 
best  moral  teachings  of  Jesus,  Confucius  and  Guatama 


46  IS  CHRISTIANITY  A  FAILURE? 

into  practice  so  as  to  improve  our  present  civilization 
and  bring  peace  and  plenty  to  common  industrious  hu- 
manity throughout  the  world,  with  no  really  hard  times 
for  them.  Prosperity  all  the  time  for  the  deserving. 

Money  and  banks,  also  men  to  run  the  banks  are 
absolutely  necessary  and  we  must  have  such.  But  we 
must  have  money  and  bankers  as  servants  of  the  people 
instead  of  masters  of  the  people.  These  same  bankers 
and  banks  working  under  and  fo!r  our  :  government, 
which  would  be  under  and  for  our  people,  at  a  fair  re- 
muneration, would  be  a  blessing  to  humanity. 

With  no  interest  on  money,  except  interest  taken  by 
the  government  at  actual  cost  of  furnishing  the  money 
to  do  business  on,  or  interest  taken  by  our  government 
as  taxes,  billions  of  dollars  per  year  would  be  saved  to 
the  producers  of  earth  that  is  now  mysteriously,  though 
legally,  stolen  from  them  by  the  idlers  of  the  world 
every  year.  A  banker  working  for  the  people  at  a  fair 
wage  is  as  much  a  producer  in  the  broader  sense  of  the 
word  as  a  teacher  or  a  farmer.  Civilization  must  have 
diversified  and  specialized  workers  of  all  kinds,  and 
workers  should  be  "worthy  of  their  hire."  It  is  the  false 
theory  that  money  can  and  does  work  and  produce  or 
increase,  that  I  wish  to  kill.  It  is  the  idlers,  prime  of 
age  and  healthy  of  body ;  the  idle  rich  and  the  idle  poor 
that  should  be  set  to  work  either  with  brains  or  hands. 

We  should  not  object  to  our  present  wealthy  class 
keeping  and  using  their  present  hoard  of  dollars  and 
spending  them  as  they  see  fit  for  necessities  or  luxuries, 
but  we  should  object  to  allowing  them  to  use  their 
present  dollars  to  get  more  dollars  through  interest  on 
money.  If  they  want  more  dollars  let  them  earn  them 
honestly  with  hands  and  brains. 

After  reorganizing  our  government  and  injecting  a 
heart  and  conscience  into  it,  it  should  take  over  or  embark 
in  the  banking  business.  Our  government  should  own 
and  control  all  money,  loaning  it  to  its  citizens  at  actual 
cost  of  doing  so,  taking  the  best  of  security. 


IS  CHRISTIANITY  A  FAILURkr  47 

With  the  government  in  control  of  the  banking  busi- 
ness, interest  on  money  might  be  made  a  simple,  effec- 
tive and  equitable  mode  of  taxation.  Taxes  levied  this 
way  would  be  easy  to  collect  and  would  be  paid  ulti- 
mately by  the  consumer  as  they  are  today,  with  the 
difference  that  at  present  we  pay  a  big  interest  tax  to 
the  idle  money  lenders  which  does  us  no  good,  while 
on  the  other  hand  a  government  interest  tax  would  go 
to  the  government  and  do  everybody  good  by  lessening 
all  other  taxes  greatly,  possibly  eliminating  most  of  them 
completely,  doing  away  with  many  other  forms  of  taxa- 
tion, thereby  doing  away  with  an  army  of  tax  gatherers. 

It  is  an  easy  matter  to  change  from  private  banks 
to  government  banks  when  a  majority  of  our  people 
desire  the  change.  But  the  chances  are  that  the  change 
will  not  come  very  soon.  It  will  not  come  until  some 
strong  organization  demands  it,  and  it  is  my  opinion 
that  there  is  no  organization  in  existance  at  present  that 
will  ever  demand  it.  The  opposition  against  it  will  be 
fierce,  something  like  a  tiger  fighting  to  retain  the  car- 
cas  of  a  lamb.  And  the  people  are  slow  to  see  and  cor- 
rect the  injustice  they  suffer  from.  What  I  or  any  other 
individual  can  do  towards  correcting  the  economic  evils 
we  all  suffer  from,  is  only  a  drop  in  the  bucket.  But  if 
there  are  enough  drops,  in  time,  the  bucket  will  be  over- 
flowing. Every  individual  is  a  drop.  Line  up  you 
"drops." 


"BY  THEIR  FRUITS,  YE  SHALL  KNOW  THEM" 

By  their  fruits  we  of  today  know  our  religions,  our 
churches,  our  economic  systems  and  our  governments; 
on  them  must  the  blame  be  placed  for  the  war  torn, 
deplorable  condition  of  our  earth.  These  man-made 
gods  who  rule  over  us  with  an  iron  hand,  elevating  or 
crushing  us  at  will  must  be  analyzed  and  reformed.  We 
take  too  much  for  granted.  We  allow  our  ignorance 
and  prejudice  instead  of  our  reason,  to  run  our  affairs. 
We  accept  too  many  ideas  that  were  manufactured 
thousands  of  years  ago  when  people  thought  the  world 
was  flat  and  war  was  a  virtue,  by  men  claiming  that 
God  told  them  so ;  ideas  that  would  sound  silly  if  the 
same  men  had  said  that  any  one  but  God  had  told  them 
so. 

God  evidently  gave  us  this  thing  we  call  reason  and 
He  must  have  intended  that  we  should  use  it,  even  in 
judging  other  men  when  they  come  along  and  tell  us 
that  they  "walked  and  talked  with  God,"  and  that  God 
told  them  certain  things  simply  because  they  were  God's 
Chosen."  The  dead  have  given  us  moderns  many  great 
things  but  they  have  also  hung  millstones  around  our 
necks  that  we  must  get  rid  of.  We  must  educate,  and 
to  educate  we  must  organize,  or  re-organize  our  insti- 
tutions. We  must  have  less  preaching  in  words  and 
more  practice  in  deeds.  Churches  must  be  turned  into 
school  houses  for  grown-ups.;  consultation  chambers  to 
discover  the  causes  of  "hard  times,"  poverty,  crime  and 
debauchery  and  recommend  remedies. 

To  consider  what  is  best  to  prevent  poverty  is  better 
than  to  give  to  the  poor.  To  consider  what  is  best  to 
prevent  sickness  is  better  than  to  heal.  To  have  no 
unknown  dead  is  better  than  to  honor  the  unknown  dead. 
We  should  not  magnify  the  ancient  days  or  ancient  men 
and  writings  above  those  of  today.  Merit  should  decide, 
not  time.  If  God  was  on  earth  in  ancient  days,  He  is 


IS  CHRISTIANITY  A  FAILURE?  49 

here  today.  Creation,  through  evolution,  is  going  on 
as  much  at  present  as  it  was  six  thousand  years  ago. 

We  must  take  an  inventory  of  our  civilization  and 
start  in  business  anew,  trying  to  avoid  the  mistakes  of 
the  past.  That  we  will  make  mistakes  in  the  future  is 
inevitable,  but  we  should  not  keep  on  repeating  the 
the  same  old  mistakes  of  the  past.  We  of  today  are  not 
wholly  responsible  for  the  world's  misery,  as  it  has  been 
willed  to  us,  but  we  will  be  responsible  for  the  future 
wars  and  human  suffering  if  we  pass  these  man-made 
gods  along  to  our  children  without  studying  and  re- 
forming them. 

The  selfishness  and  arrogance  of  the  educated  and 
v/ealthy  leaders  as  well  as  the  ignorance  of  the  great 
common  people  who  blindly  follow,  causes  poverty,  hard 
times  and  unrest.  The  cure  is  proper  education. 

We  should  have  no  extremely  rich  or  idle  rich  and 
no  extremely  poor  or  idle  poor.  We  should  have  no 
uncared-for  children,  feeble,  crippled  or  sick.  All  should 
give  according  to  their  ability  and  all  should  receive 
according  to  their  needs. 

We  must  necessarily  fight  false  religion  because  the 
dead  thing  is  in  our  way.  People  full  of  false  religion 
and  selfish  thoughts  about  their  own  particular  place 
in  heaven  have  but  little  room  on  their  minds  for  human- 
ity. 

We  are  all  one,  and  the  misfortune  or  injury  of  one 
should  be  the  concern  of  all.  This  is  the  philosophy  of 
Jesus.  He  never  used  the  words:  "Believe  or  be  damn- 
ed." These  words,  together  with  other  slanders  against 
Jesus  should  be  torn  from  the  Bible.  They  are  words  of 
a  forked-tongued  priesthood,  hissed  from  between  the 
covers  of  the  "word"  of  a  man-made  god  that  we  must 
forget. 


THE  FIRST  STEP 

The  first  step  toward  a  higher  civilization  as  I  see 
it,  is  to  purify  our  religion  and  exalt  above  everything 
earthly,  even  above  government;  let  our  purified  reli- 
gion be  the  constitution  of  our  government.  And  if  our 
religion  says  "thou  shalt  not  kill"  or  "thou  shalt  not 
steal,"  reform  the  government  that  kills  or  steals.  I 
am  writing  of  all  governments  of  all  peoples  of  earth. 

Christianity,  after  going  through  the  fire  of  intense 
reasonable  thought,  will  come  out  pure  moral  gold, 
and  all  enlightened,  moral  people  of  earth  will  believe 
in  and  uphold  it,  but — there  must  necessarily  be  a  lot  of 
religious  rubbish  burned  and  a  lot  of  decayed  religious 
matter  plowed  under  first. 

A  worn  out  religious  idea  to  be  put  out  of  commis- 
sion, is  the  idea  that  any  one  of  use  or  any  number  of 
us  together  are  "chosen  of  God."  Thejews  worked  this 
idea  overtime  and  are  still  suffering  for  it.  The  Ger- 
mans tried  it  and  will  suffer  for  their  foolishness.  All 
Christians  and  many  heathens  have  more  or  less  forci- 
bly put  forth  this  idiotic  self  conceited  idea.  All  people 
must  quit  it.  >. 

Another  religious  idea  to  discard,  is  that  prayer  and 
confession  only,  will  get  us  anywhere,  either  in  this 
world  or  the  world  to  come.  Prayer  and  confession, 
without  good  hard  work  will  not  put  us  through  college. 
It  will  not  cause  us  to  become  good  farmers,  good 
mechanics,  good  merchants,  good  musicians  or  good  and 
efficient  anything  on  this  earth  and  we  have  a  right  to 
presume  that  the  rule  holds  good  in  the  next  world. 

And  still  another  religious  stumbling  block  to  pro- 
gress is  the  "vicarious  atonement"  idea.  This  idea  was 
invented  by  lazy  people  who  made  a  living  out  of  their 
religion  and  should  have  no  place  in  purified  Chris- 
tianity— the  teachings  of  Jesus  of  Nazareth.  Words 
supporting  this  idea  were  evidently  placed  in  the  mouth 


IS  CHRISTIANITY  A  FAILURE?  51 

of  Jesus  nearly  a  century  after  he  was  dead.  It  is 
blasphemy  against  Jesus  and  the  great  Creator  of  all, 
to  repeat  and  believe  it. 

The  idea  of  one  person  suffering  for  another  has 
never  taken  root  in  any  of  our  wordly  affairs.  No 
judge,  jury  or  well  balanced  sane  man  or  woman  would 
stand  for  it  on  this  earth,  and  we  have  a  right  to  assume 
that  the  case  would  be  the  same  in  the  next  world.  It 
is  a  lazy,  cowardly  man's  idea  of  salvation  on  this  earth. 
The  manly,  womanly  way  in  this  world  is  for  each  to 
suffer  for  their  own  sins  and  make  our  good  works  our 
only  salvation.  Who  can  say  that  this  is  not  the  proce- 
dure in  the  next  world?  To  know  what  are  good  works 
in  all  earthly  affairs  should  be  the  chief  study  of  preachers 
and  telling  how  to  apply  same  should  be  their  main 
occupation.  In  other  words  our  religious  teachers  should 
pay  more  attention  to  practical  religion  and  less  atten- 
tion to  theoretical  religion.  We  need  less  beautiful  words 
which  are  musical  air  to  be  blown  away.  Let  our 
preachers  say:  "I  am  not  come  to  preach  but  to  found 
a  new  practice  in  life  whereby  crime,  misery  and  starva- 
tion may  be  averted." 

The  following  words  writen  2500  years  ago,  are  good 
reading  today:  "The  words  that  come  out  of  man's 
mouth,  even  though  they  profess  prayers  and  repen- 
tance are  of  little  avail  before  Jehovah.  But  the  words 
that  come  out  of  good  works  done  unto  others  to  raise 
them  up,  are  as  the  sound  of  a  trumpet  that  reacheth 
beyond  the  stars." 

"In  all  ages  of  the  world  there  have  been  deceivers 
and  hypocrites,  with  Temples  and  Churches  to  worship 
in,  professing  to  serve  the  Creator,  but  in  fact  serving  an 
idol." 

"There  is  no  resurrection  but  by  developing  the 
talents  Jehovah  created  unto  all  men.  Go  ye  to  work, 
therefore  and  to  places  of  education,  that  ye  may  be- 
come fit  companions  of  Jehovah's  exalted  angels." 

"Neither  shall  one  man  judge  another,  or  one  nation 


52  IS  CHRISTIANITY  A  FAILURE? 

judge  another,  and  cry  out,  heathen ;  or  one  people  judge 
another  and  cry  out,  pagan." 

"Their  priests  and  preachers  spake  good  doctrines, 
but  they  practiced  them  not,  save  a  little,  as  a  blind  to 
lead  the  multitude  astray.  And  they  live  in  fine  houses 
and  fare  sumptuously  every  day;  and  are  skilled  in 
oratory  and  in  doctrinal  precepts;  but  they  will  not  go 
and  serve  the  poor,  teaching  them  how  to  live." 

"My  judgements  are  upon  those  that  profess  me, 
dealing  out  their  pittance  to  the  poor,  whilst  they  them- 
selves live  above  want.  When  such  men  die  and  enter 
the  first  resurrection  they  shall  be  handed  over  to  those 
who  are  in  darkness,  and  their  bondage  shall  be  a  hun- 
dredfold. For  they  preached  righteousness  with  the 
mouth,  but,  in  their  behavior  they  laid  their  foundation 
for  the  kingdom  of  hypocrisy.  Verily  I  give  unto  them 
the  harvest  that  cotneth  of  their  own  sowing.  I  know  no 
distinctions  of  men,  of  races  or  sects,  doctrines  or  past 
revelations.  All  people  are  My  people." 

"Have  faith  O  man,  in  Him,  who  created  thee  alive, 
about  Him  there  can  be  no  mistake.  Glorify  Him  by 
righteous  works,  having-  faith  that  even  as  He  brought 
thee  into  life,  so  will  He  provide  unto  thee  according 
to  thy  just  deserts." 

"For  I  will  make  man  understand  that  he  shall  accept 
nothing  from  angels  or  men  because  of  the  name  pro- 
fessed. On  the  merit  only  of  wisdom  and  truth,  and 
such  good  doctrines  as  raise  men  up  out  of  darkness  and 
poverty  and  crime,  shall  they  accept  either  spoken  or 
written  words." 

"And  they  shall  try  to  organize  to  carry  out  good 
works,  but  they  shall  fail.  For  many  will  desire  to  be 
leaders,  being  under  the  influence  of  selfish  considera- 
tions, desiring  the  applause  of  men." 

"And  they  will  profess  freedom,  but  they  will  not 
pledge  themselves  to  any  sacrifice,  either  of  money  or 
opinion  for  the  sake  of  the  public  good." 

"And  little  good  shall  come  out  of  their  works  and 


IS  CHRISTIANITY  A  FAILURE?  53 

even  less  peace  of  soul  shall  come  to  them.  For  they 
shall  dispute  and  quarrel,  being  divided  in  all  their  ideas, 
philosophies  and  sentiments,  and  understanding  of  real 
truth." 

"Thou  shalt  judge  thyself;  thy  spirit  is  as  a  manu- 
script in  thine  own  handwriting;  thou  art  daily  writing 
thy  grade  and  the  place  of  thy  abode  in  heaven." 

"Neither  prayers  nor  confessions  shall  graduate  thee 
in  my  house,  to  be  companion  to  such  as  have  passed 
on  before  thee.  So  say  I  at  the  gates  of  my  exalted 
heavens,  unto  the  inhabitants  of  earth :  Only  by  know- 
ledge and  righteous  works  done  unto  one  another  shall 
ye  be  able  to  endure  the  light  of  my  Kingdoms." 

Our  churches  have  spent  too  much  time  on  theories 
that  interest  us  and  not  enough  time  on  facts  that 
govern  us.  Churches  should  spend  more  time  on  the 
religion  of  the  body  which  we  can  know  a  lot  about  and 
less  time  on  the  religion  of  the  soul  which  we  never  can 
know  much  about  until  we  pass  on.  Our  preachers 
should  speculate  more  on  how  to  make  our  earthly 
existence  more  comfortable,  more  healthy,  more  perfect 
and  more  helpful  to  others  less  fornunate  than  our- 
selves. We  know  that  there  is  misery  and  crime  in  this 
world  and  that  it  can  be  lessened,  if  we  all  earnestly 
try  to  lessen  it.  I  believe  our  churches  should  not  only 
inspire  us  to  make  this  world  better  than  we  find  it,  but 
actually  cause  us  to  do  it.  The  origin  of  man  is  com- 
paratively unimportant  to  us  beside  the  question  of  his 
welfare  on  earth.  Too  little  religious  thought  has  been 
placed  on  earth  and  too  much  in  the  clouds.  Life  should 
not  be  regarded  wholly  as  a  preparation  for  death. 

I  believe  Christianity  to  be  as  good  as  any  religion 
on  earth,  but  I  am  not  overly  proud  that  I  belong  to  a 
Christin  nation,  for  the  following  reasons: 

Christianity  teaches,  "thou  shalt  not  kill,"  but  Chris-" 
tian  nations  are  the  greatest  killers  of  earth.  No  heathen 
nation  can  hold  a  candle  to  them,  unless  they  use 
methods  and  weapons  invented  by  Christians. 


54  IS  CHRISTIANITY  A  FAILURE, 

Christianity  teaches,  "thou  shalt  not  steal,"  yet  it 
takes  a  Christian  nation  to  steel  an  empire  and  get  away 
with  it. 

Christianity  takes  and  teaches  the  wrong  view  in 
regard  to  social  economy,  as  to  methods  of  bettering 
the  condition  of  "the  least  of  these  my  brethren."  The 
Christian  idea  seems  to  be  indiscriminate  giving,  without 
doing  anything  practical  to  remove  the  causes  of  poverty. 
It  seems  to  me  to  be  weakly  trying  to  bind  and  soothe 
the  wounds  of  humanity,  made  by  heartless  govern- 
ments of  earth,  instead  of  commanding  these  govern- 
ments to  cease  causing  these  wounds  to  be. 

Humanity  craves  something  more  effective  than  pre- 
sent day  Christianity.  Something  better  than  Chris- 
tianity, something  more  Christian  than  Christianity. 
Somehting  that  will  go  to  the  people  of  earth  and  aid 
them  regardless  of  whether  the  people  "believe"  in  Chris- 
tianity or  not.  Something  Humanitarian  in  its  scope. 

Christianity  says  "Come  to  Jesus,  come  to  our  God, 
come  to  us,  come  to  our  way  of  thinking  in  religious 
matters,  or  you  are  heathens  even  though  you  are  moral- 
ly perfect" 

What  we  need  is  a  world-wide  Humanitarian  reli- 
gion, that  includes  every  living  human  of  earth  as  one 
of  "God's  chosen  people,"  a  religion  that  causes  all  to 
say  to  all :  We  are  brothers  and  sisters,  your  God  is  my 
God  regardless  of  what  you  think  or  believe.  Your 
birth  and  good  moral  conduct  makes  you  a  member  of 
our  church  if  you  wish  to  associate  with  us.  We  will 
help  you  all  we  can  and  will  not  dispute  with  you  over 
matters  in  which  we  merely  "believe"  but  know  nothing 
about.  Go  and  make  life  happier  for  everybody  except 
those  who  persist  in  doing  that  which  all  well  meaning 
people  concede  to  be  wrong. 

We  must  quit  thinking,  and  our  religion  must  quit 
teaching,  "the  fall  of  man,"  that  we  fell  in  an  instant 
and  can  rise  in  an  instant;  that  we  can  rise  to  perfection 
only  through  bathing  in  the  blood  of  innocence ;  that 


IS  CHRISTIANITY  A  FAILURE?  55 

our  Creator  can  and  will  change  us  from  ignorance  and 
criminality  to  wisdom  and  innocence  just  by  our  be- 
lieving what  ancient  poets  taught.  Our  religion  must 
teach  the  "rise  of  man"  as  proclaimed  by  modern  science 
and  unqualifiedly  endorsed  by  the  mental  giants  of  our 
age;  that  through  education  and  growth  only,  can  we 
hope  to  reach  perfection ;  that  it  all  depends  on  ourselves; 
on  hard,  honest,  conscientious  work.  The  idea  of  "vica- 
rious atonement"  is  a  lazy  man's  dream  of  progress  and 
a  coward's  idea  of  shirking  responsibility,  kept  alive  by 
those  who  make  an  easy  living  out  of  it.  Easy  for  the 
preacher  to  repeat  and  easy  for  the  drone  to  swallow. 

We  must  resurrect  the  religion  of  Jesus  and  bury 
the  religion  if  priests,  together  with  its  symbol,  the 
cross,  and  climb  heavenward  on  earth. 

The  cross  represents  the  religion  of  priests:  "Believe 
or  be  damned." 

Kind  acts  represents  the  religion  of  Jesus:  "Do  as 
you  wish  to  be  done  by." 

The  two  kinds  of  religion  will  not  mix.  Take  your 
choice. 

Priestly  religion  is  a  mental  narcotic.  It  clouds  the 
brain  and  makes  people  stupid,  leading  to  mental  stagna- 
tion and  decay. 

Jesus  of  Nazareth  religion  clears  the  brain  like  a  ray 
of  sunshine  in  a  darkened  room,  and  heralds  the  morning 
of  civilizations'  glorius  day  to  come.  His  religion,  pro- 
perly taught,  will  banish  wars  and  lesser  evils;  will  tear 
down  jails,  asylums  and  reformatories,  placing  real 
churches,  libraries  and  theatres  in  their  places. 


THE  CHURCH  OF  THE  FUTURE 

I  see  the  church  of  the  future  as  one  great  building 
covering  the  earth,  with  rooms  in  every  city  and  village 
of  every  nation,  where  the  great  mass  of  the  common 
people  of  every  country  go  for  social  intercourse,  en- 
lightenment, refinement  and  pleasure.  A  social  center 
open  every  day  in  the  year,  where  all  well  meaning 
people  may  combine  for  the  good  of  mankind,  regardless 
of  their  religious  belief  or  disbelief.  A  church  that 
leaves  everyone  free  to  choose  his  or  her  own  religion; 
a  happy  practical  combination  of  all  that  is  best  in 
modern  church,  Sunday  school,  library  and  theatre. 

A  church  that  is  the  house  of  man,  a  Sunday  school 
and  week  day  school  for  grown-ups  of  all  religions,  where 
truth  about  human  betterment  is  taught  in  an  impartial, 
honest,  prayerful  manner;  where  all  may  learn  from  an 
unprejudiced  standpoint,  the  moral  teachings  of  Jesus, 
Confucius,  Guatama,  and  of  the  wonders  of  modern 
science  as  well  as  the  better  teachings  of  all  Bibles.  A 
church  in  which  the  wtords  of  man  are  taught  A  church 
that  pays  as  much  attention  to  the  body  of  man  as  it 
does  to  his  soul.  A  church  that  is  interested  whether 
he  is  receiving  a  fair  compensation  for  his  daily  ser- 
vices for  society  or  whether  he  is  being  unjustly  dealt 
with  by  those  who  have  a  little  temporary  authority 
over  him.  A  church  that  makes  it  part  of  its  main 
business  on  earth  to  see  that  earthly  justice  is  done  to 
all.  A  church  that  demands  a  square  deal  politically 
and  otherwise,  for  its  members.  A  church  in  which 
public  opinon  can  be  educated,  refined  and  through 
which  it  can  assert  itself  in  no  uncertain  manner.  A 
church  unhampered  by  theoretical  religion,  which  has 
always  proved  to  be  a  divider  of  humanity;  a  church 
which  will  organize  the  great  common  people  of  earth 
to  make  them  better,  wiser,  healthier,  happier  citizens 
of  earth.  A  church  for  man,  not  for  Jesus;  Jesus  does 


IS  CHRISTIANITY  A  FAILURE?  57 

not  need  an  earthly  dwelling  or  headquarters  of  timber, 
brick  or  stone.  Neither  does  the  great  Creator  of  all. 
But  man  does  need  such,  and  needs  it  badly.  He  needs 
a  chruch  to  teach  him  that  which  is  worth  while  in  this 
life  and  the  right  way  to  attain  it.  A  church  teaching 
what  the  truly  great  men  of  all  ages  have  said  and  are 
saying. 

A  church  with  the  word  Humanitarian  shining  above 
each  entrance ;  a  church  of  man,  in  which  the  best  words 
of  man  are  taught,  using  the  Golden  Rule  as  its  guide, 
proclaiming  to  the  world  that  God  is  great  and  all 
humans  are  his  children,  and  that  there  is  no  higher 
worship  of  our  Creator  than  the  service  of  humanity; 
that  it  is  better  to  aid  the  unfortunate  and  teach  them 
how  to  be  self  supporting  and  happy  than  it  is  to  get 
down  and  crawl  before  the  unseen  and  unknown,  while 
mumbling  a  set  form  of  words.  A  church  welcoming 
all  who  desire  and  strive  to  be  better  and  wiser,  and 
wish  to  help  make  this  earth  a  better  place  for  humane 
man  to  dwell. 

A  church  that  teaches  practical,  every  day  morality; 
that  it  is  wrong  to  gamble,  that  is  is  wrong  to  get  some- 
thing for  nothing,  that  it  is  wrong  to  take  unless  you 
give  an  equivalent,  instead  of  a  church  that  holds  church 
fairs  and  teaches  that  gambling  is  all  right  as  long  as 
it  is  done  in  a  small  way  in  "God's  House.*' 

A  church  that  teaches  the  evils  of  liquor  in  all  its 
forms  instead  of  a  church  that  passes  liquor  to  its  mem- 
bers calling  it  the  "blood  of  Jesus";  the  same  liquor 
that  if  passed  in  a  saloon  would  be  called  the  broth  of 
the  Devil  by  this  same  church. 

A  church  that  will  "come  down  to  earth"  and  help 
to  give  us  well  fed  and  protected  bodies  in  which  souls 
worthy  to  sit  with  Jesus,  may  dwell  and  live  this  life  like 
self  respecting  humans,  instead  of  like  hyenas,  buzzards, 
wolves  and  hawks  preying  on  one  another. 

Our  church  should  see  that  the  physically  strong, 
the  mentally  strong,  the  financially  strong  do  not  abuse 


58  IS  CHRISTIANITY  A  FAILURE? 

the  weak.  Our  church  should  quit  mumbling-  prayers 
and  go  to  work  educating  and  refining  the  great  common 
people.  It  should  stay  out  of  politics,  stay  out  of  reli- 
gion and  stay  out  of  the  clouds.  It  belongs  down  here 
on  earth  among  us  every  day  in  the  week;  aiding  us  to 
a  higher  and  better  life. 

This  is  religion  enough  for  a  church,  that  all  com- 
mon people  of  earth  can  join  to  build  a  new  world  in 
which  world  citizenship  has  its  birth.  This  would  be 
a  real  "League  of  Nations,"  a  league  of  the  great  com- 
mon people  of  the  various  nationalities  of  earth,  who  are 
the  real  nations,  instead  of  a  League  of  a  tew  political 
leaders  with  a  little  transitory  power,  whose  successors 
in  office,  quarreling  among  themselves,  may  at  will 
overturn  human  affairs  and  destroy  civilization. 

God  and  Jesus  are  too  busy  with  more  important 
business  than  to  waste  any  more  time  on  a  lot  of  half- 
baked,  stiff-necked  humans  who  run  their  heads  in  the 
desert  sand  of  selfishness  and  swear  the  sun  of  truth 
does  not  shine.  A  lot  of  humans  who  will  allow  one 
crazy  nobody  to  start  a  world  war  and  kill  off  seven 
million  of  the  best  men  and  women  of  earth,  and  for 
what? 

The  churches  of  earth  are  whining  that  they  are  not 
patronized  as  they  should  be,  that  people  do  not  take  the 
interest  in  them  that  they  should,  which  is  all  true,  but, 
there  is  a  reason  and  the  reason  is  because  the  churches 
do  not  take  a  real  interest  in  the  people,  in  their  earthly 
welfare.  The  churches  pray  for  the  peoples'  souls  while 
the  governments  of  earth  rob  their  bodies.  It  may  be 
true  that  the  people  of  earth  have  as  good  governments 
as  they  deserve,  as  their  main  business  in  life  seems  to 
be  to  rob  each  other,  but — the  churches  should  get  busy 
preparing  the  people  in  a  practical  manner  to  be  worthy 
of  better  governments.  While  the  trouble  may  be  caused 
by  individual  ignorance  which  breeds  disease — economic 
as  well  as  bodily,  which  causes  all  this  injustice  and 
unhappiness-the  churches  of  earth  should  make  it  their 


IS  CHRISTIANITY  A  FAILURE?  59 

business  to  restore  harmony  by  commanding  their 
preachers  to  study  and  help  solve  purely  wordly  affairs. 
If  worldly  affairs  are  too  low  and  coarse  for  our  spirit- 
ually refined  ministers  to  bother  with,  they  are  certainly 
too  low  and  debasing  for  Jesus  and  God  to  fool  with. 
Economics  have  been  left  to  politicians  too  long,  for  too 
many  centuries.  Our  churches  must  use  their  refining 
and  civilizing  influence  in  government  and  business  or 
make  way  for  churches  that  will,  for  churches  that  Jesus 
would  feel  at  home  in,  were  he  on  earth  today, 
Churches  whose  members  can  believe  or  disbelieve  that 
the  Bible  is  the  "Word  of  God"  or  that  Jesus  is  a  God. 
man  or  myth.  These  should  be  unimportant  matters  to 
the  church ;  they  can  only  be  important  to  the  individual 
and  he  should  and  will  decide  them  according  to  his 
intelligence  and  education. 

The  well  meaning,  moral  men  and  women  of  earth 
spend  too  much  time  disputing  over  whether  the  Bible 
is  the  Word  of  God  or  not,  and  whether  Jesus  is  a  God 
or  not,  and  too  little  time  working  shoulder  to  shoulder 
trying  to  make  this  earth  a  better  place  to  live  on. 

Man  is  God-made,  and  churches  and  governments 
are  man-made.  What  is  God-made  is  of  more  importance 
than  what  is  man-made.  It  is  the  man  that  is  important, 
not  the  government  or  church.  The  church  and  the 
government  should  serve  the  man.  It  is  the  man  that 
suffers  or  enjoys,  that  dies  and  goes  to  heaven  or  hell 
and  not  the  church  or  government.  The  church  and 
government  should  be  merely  a  human  means  of  col- 
lecting men  together  in  order  to  better  their  condition, 
and  not  to  simply  better  the  condition  of  "money 
changers,"  politicians  and  preachers. 

Simply  because  one  good  man  believes  that  Jesus  is 
a  God,  and  another  good  man  believes  Jesus  is  a  myth, 
is  not  a  good  enough  reason  why  they  should  spend  their 
time  and  energy  working  against  each  other.  They 
should  be  working  side  by  side  for  the  betterment  of 
all.  If  Jesus  is  a  God,  what  any  one  man,  or  any  one 


60  IS  CHRISTIANITY  A  FAILURE? 

million  men,  believes  to  the  contrary,  does  not  change 
the  great  truth  itself.  And  if  Jesus  is  not  a  God,  the 
belief  of  all  men  of  all  time  does  not  affect  the  great 
fact  in  the  least.  While  we  all  know  that  it  is  better  to 
believe  truth  than  it  is  to  believe  falehood,  and  that 
individually  speaking,  we  are  all  in  different  stages  of 
development  and  cannot  honestly  see  truths  that  are 
perfectly  plain  to  those  a  little  higher  up  on  the  ladder 
of  intelligence,  where  the  view  is  broader,  it  ill  becomes 
the  person  standing  on  the  mountain  of  knowledge  where 
the  view  is  unlimited,  who  "knows"  Jesus  to  be  a  God, 
to  waste  his  time  and  energy  disputing  with  his  brother 
down  in  the  valley  of  ignorance,  who  does  not  know 
it  or  even  "believe"  it,  where  the  view  is  cut  off  on  all 
sides,  when  both  could  join  hands  and  work  for  better 
material  conditions,  without  any  insult  or  injury  to  Jesus. 
If  Jesus  is  a  God  he  can  get  along  fine  without  our  silly 
kow-towing.  If  he  is  not  a  God,  kow-towing  belittles 
him. 

One  life  and  one  world  at  a  time,  seems  good  logic 
to  me.  Our  present  earth  life  is  evidently  the  foundation 
for  the  next  life.  A  good  -foundation  is  always  very 
desirable.  Our  religion  should  teach  us  how  to  live  our 
present  life  properly  and  not  speculate  too  much  on  life 
hereafter.  Religion  should  not  teach  us  practices  detri- 
mental to  health,  or  true  happiness,  which  we  may 
derive  from  proper  earthly  relations.  Holiness  should 
not  mean  an  unnatural  life,  a  hermit's  life,  a  single  life, 
it  should  mean  a  natural  life  in  conformity  to  the  laws 
of  human  nature ;  a  practical  life  among  other  people. 
It  should  mean  to  live  a  natural,  healthy,  normal  life, 
taking  a  share  in  the  world's  activities.  To  eat,  wear 
and  enjoy,  to  love  and  be  loved,  but  to  be  temperate  in 
all  things. 

Our  religion  should  use  exact  and  scientific  expla- 
nations, not  poetic  and  symbolic  language.  People  waste 
a  lot  of  valuable  time  and  energy  trying  to  fathom  the 
meaning  of  mythical  poetry,  parables  and  allegories  of 


IS  CHRISTIANITY  A  FAILURE?  61 

a  remote  time,  people  and  language,  which  creates  a 
world  of  misunderstanding  and  endless  bickerings  and 
silly  arguments  on  matters  that  no  one  knows  anything 
about.  It  not  only  does  great  harm  in  this  life  but 
clouds  a  clear  understanding  of  the  life  to  come. 

Our  religion  should  teach  the  individual  that  he  owes 
a  duty  first  to  himself  and  next  to  the  world.  That  his 
first  duty  is  to  improve  himself  and  then  to  work  for 
humanity ;  a  duty  he  owes  to  his  Creator  for  the  bless- 
ings he  receives,  whether  the  world  appears  friendly 
or  otherwise  towards  him. 

Out  of  reverence  to  our  Creator  we  should  disbe- 
lieve and  disapprove  of  much  that  is  taught  by  modern 
religions.  We  should  believe  God  to  be  too  wise  and 
good  to  be  cruel,  vindictive,  blood  thirsty  and  dis- 
honest. These  are  human  traits,  and  any  Bible  teaching 
us  that  the  great  Creator  of  all,  has,  or  did  have,  these 
traits  at  any  time  in  the  past,  is  teaching  falsehood. 
The  Christian  Bible  teaches  these  horrible  things  about 
God. 

Our  religion  should  teach  that  virtue  brings  its  own 
reward  and  vice  its  own  punishment.  That  blood  of 
Gods,  men  or  animals,  does  not  wipe  away  sin.  It 
should  teach  the  moral  responsibility  of  the  individual 
and  that  the  Golden  Rule  contains  the  highest  morality. 
That  the  doorway  to  reformation  is  never  closed  against 
any  human  soul,  here  or  hereafter.  This  is  the  broad, 
manly  view. 

Our  religion  should  not  teach  that  death  is  a  penalty 
inflicted  upon  mankind  and  all  creatures  below  man, 
because  the  first  man  and  woman  offended  God  and  He 
sentenced  them  and  unborn  millions  of  innocent  people 
as  well  as  animals,  to  suffer  death  here,  and  then  be 
tortured  endlessly  in  hell  hereafter,  unless  they  believe 
the  horrible  statement  that  God  caused  his  only  be- 
gotten Son  to  be  cruelly  murdered  by  an  ignorant, 
vicious  mob  to  appease  Gods  wrath,  and  that  God's 
original  plans  were  defeated  by  a  wicked  spirit  in  the 


62  IS  CHRISTIANITY  A  FAILURE  r 

form  of  a  snake,  who,  with  man,  was  more  power- 
ful than  God.  Such  teachings  slander  our  Creator,  the 
maker  and  Ruler  of  our  vast  universe.  Such  teachings 
have  the  effect  of  picturing  our  Creator  as  a  weakling 
and  a  brute.  Such  teachings  make  religion  appear 
disgusting  to  the  intelligent,  such  teachings  insult  refine- 
ment, such  teachings  hamper  the  church. 

Our  religious  creeds  were  made  by  ancients,  men  who 
believed  our  earth  to  be  flat  and  that  God  possesses  all 
the  passions  and  weaknesses  of  men.  Now  some  of 
these  ancient  men  were  no  doubt  honest  and  did  the 
best  they  knew  how  to  do.  We  should  get  busy  and 
see  what  we  can  do  in  a  safe,  sane  and  sensible  religious 
line. 

Our  religion  should  teach  that  public  necessities  and 
utilities,  which  all  the  people  must  use  to  live,  such  as 
lands,  water  and  crude  materials  provided  by  nature, 
should  be  controlled  by  the  people  collectively,  and  not 
by  individuals  to  the  detriment  of  the -people  who  must 
have  these  things  or  perish. 

Our  religion  should  teach  social  democracies  in  which 
men  and  women  exercise  equal  social,  political,  econo- 
mic and  religious  rights  and  privileges,  in  which  all  are 
free  to  do  whatsoever  they  desire  to  do,  provided  that, 
in  the  doing  thereof,  they  do  not  infringe  upon  the 
rights  of  or  injure  others. 

We,  the  common  people  of  earth,  need  a  reformed 
church,  a  church  that  teaches  us  to  come  closer  together 
and  progress.  A  church  that  actually  inspires  and 
causes  us  to  be  better  and  do  better. 

A  church  that  will  cause  our  government  to  look 
out  for  its  citizens  as  a  father  looks  out  for  the  interest 
of  his  family. 

Our  religion  should  not  only  stop  men  from  killing 
each  other  in  war  but  should  stop  men  from  swindling 
each  other  in  peace.  It  should  banish  from  the  earth 
unmerited  poverty  and  the  fear  of  it,  unmerited  sorrow 
and  unnecessary  pain. 


IS  CHRISTIANITY  A  FAILURE?  63 

The  whole  effort  of  our  church  should  be  to  find 
what  the  truth  is,  for  the  truth's  sake  alone,  and  not  to 
bolster  up  ancient  erroneous  religious  thought. 

Our  religion  should  avoid  the  idea  of  this  world  be- 
ing only  temporary  and  of  no  consequence  and  that  the 
next  world  is  the  all  important  one,  as  it  is  a  bad  idea 
for  humans  to  get  too  strongly.  It  belittles  all  effort 
to  make  this  world  a  better  place  to  live  in.  This  life 
is  as  sacred  as  any  life  we  know  of. 

Our  religion  should  teach  us  salvation  by  truth, 
justice  and  healthy  hard  work  and  not  by  sacrifice  and 
sacrament.  "The  truth  will  make  you  free." 

Our  religion  should  teach,  "a  union  of  all  who  love 
in  the  interest  of  all  who  suffer."  It  should  teach  us 
to  not  take  a  delight  in  lording  it  over  those  whom 
chance  or  accident  places  in  our  power,  but  rather  teach 
us  to  feel  honored  that  we  can  serve  others. 

Our  religion  should  cause  our  governments  to  quit 
going  around  with  "a  chip  on  the  shoulder,"  looking  for 
trouble,  finding  it  and  then  committing  murder. 

Our  religion  has  always  taught  and  upheld  slavery 
instead  of  intelligent,  independent  citizenship.  It  has 
always  taught  "servants  obey  your  masters,"  "wives 
obey  your  husbands,"  "slaves  submit,  forget  your  earth- 
ly troubles  and  store  up  treasures  in  heaven,"  "obey 
your  King,  obey  your  Lord." 

We  need  a  church  that  will  dwell  on  and  teach  the 
good  of  all  religions,  as  well  as  teach  correct  economic 
principles  and  the  way  to  right  living  here  on  earth  so 
that  we  all  will  get  the  maximum  of  enjoyment  out  of 
life  with  the  least  possible  amount  of  pain  and  sorrow, 
throwing  the  sackcloth  and  ashes  brand  of  religion  in 
the  rubbish  heap  where  it  belongs. 

A  church  that  tells  the  world  that  it  was  organized 
to  bring  happiness  on  earth  and  not  to  oppose  any  other 
church,  but  to  aid  in  spreading  economic  truth  as  well 
as  spiritual  truth,  and  make  better  citizens  of  its  members, 
who  are  free  to  join  any  other  church  also,  that  they 


64  IS  CHRISTIANITY  A  FAILURE? 

choose  to  join,  without  ceasing  to  be  members  in  good 
standing  in  this  church. 

A  church  that  will  teach  its  members  but  not  dictate 
to,  and  domineer  over  them.  A  church  that  does  not 
profess  to  own  or  control  the  body  or  soul  of  any  mem- 
ber. A  church  that  merely  desires  to  guide  the  intellect 
of  its  members  towards  absolute  truth  and  justice  in 
all  things.  A  church  that  teaches  right  thinking  and 
right  living.  A  Humanitarian  Church, 

We  must  have  a  new  church  movement  that  will 
teach  the  wisdom  of  Jesus,  Confucius  and  Guatuma,  to 
aid  us  in  solving  our  problems.  The  myths,  fairy  tales, 
dreams  and  lies  woven  around  them  by  deluded  and 
dishonest  people  must  be  destroyed  so  as  not  to  dim  the 
true  manly  worth  of  these  greatest  men  of  earth.  The 
fog  of  superstition  and  cobwebs  of  error  that  obstruct 
our  vision  of  them  must  be  brushed  aside  so  we  may 
see  them  in  all  their  glory.  This  would  be  a  grand 
second  coming  of  Jesus,  as  well  as  of  the  others,  and  the 
only  second  coming  that  intelligence  could  expect. 

I  regret  very  much  that  it  is  necessary  for  me  to 
attack  false  religion  in  my  effort  to  aid  common  humani- 
ty, as  all  false  religions  are  serpents,  and  he  who  is 
indiscreet  enough  to  step  on  their  tails  is  sure  to  have 
venemous  fangs  sunk  deep  into  his  anatomy. 


GOVERNMENT    DISTRIBUTION 

It  seems  to  me  that  we  must  gradually  grow  towards 
a  combination  of  individual  production  and  government 
distribution  coupled  with  government  supervision  of 
production  in  an  advisory  capacity,  more  than  man- 
datory, so  as  not  to  interfere  with  individual  initiative 
and  individual  responsibility. 

Governments  should  encourage  and  aid  in  a  fatherly 
manner  without  entering  into  competition,  unless  it  would 
be  greatly  to  the  benefit  of  a  majority  of  the  citizens. 

While  absolute  government  control  and  operation 
of  production  and  distribution  may  be  the  goal  of  our 
present  civilization,  I  believe  we  should  approach  it 
with  caution.  That,  if  it  is  to  come,  to  be  healthy,  it 
must  be  a  gradual  growth  and  not  a  leap. 

Private  ownership  in  land  beyond  a  certain  point 
must  be  curbed.  It  is  certainly  not  right  for  one  man 
to  hold  in  idleness  ten  thousand  acres  of  land  while  ten 
thousand  idle  men  willing  to  work  land,  are  deprived. 
Just  what  the  concrete  remedy  should  be  is  hard  for  any 
one  person  to  determine.  In  correcting  old  wrongs  let 
us  be  careful  not  to  enthrone  new  ones.  When  the 
great  common  people  get  their  minds  on  these  questions 
they  will  settle  them  and  settle  them  fair  to  every  one. 
But  the  problem  is  to  get  the  peoples'  minds  on  the 
questions  in  an  unbiased  manner.  The  churches  can  do 
it  after  the  churches  heve  been  reformed. 

Our  first  duty  is  to  reform  ourselves ;  get  the  habit 
of  thinking  long  and  deep  before  we  act,  before  we  vote, 
before  we  follow  any  leader,  whether  religious  or  poli- 
tical. Then  reform  our  present  churches  or  organize 
a  new  world-wide  church,  whose  principal  business  shall 
be  to  reform  governments  as  well  as  individuals.  A 
church  that  Hotentots  and  Christians,  Chinese  and  Ger- 
mans, Hebrews  and  Japanese,  in  fact  all  children  of 
God  can  join  and  feel  at  home  in.  A  church  that  will 


66  IS  CHRISTIANITY  A  FAILURE? 

let  heaven  in  the  clouds  rest  for  a  while,  and  just  pull 
off  its  coat,  roll  up  its  sleeves,  spit  on  its  hands  and  go 
to  work  building  a  real  heavenly  heaven  here  on  earth 
in  the  ever  present  now. 

Government  should  take  over  the  large  things  that 
individuals  or  corporations  cannot  handle  so  well,  for 
the  whole  people's  best  interest.  Even  as  our  roads 
and  streets  are  built  and  maintained  by  our^government 
for  the  use  and  enjoyment  of  all  our  people.  How  much 
better  this  is  than  for  private  individuals  or  corporations 
to  attempt  it. 

It  is  true  that  we  suffer  from  some  graft,  some 
incompetency  and  some  wilful  neglect,  but  no  one  can 
truthfully  say  that  it  would  be  for  the  best  interest  of 
a  majority,  for  our  government  to  turn  our  roads  and 
streets  over  to  private  ownership  and  control.  If  there 
are  abuses  the  remedy  is  to  purify  and  make  better, 
governmental  efficiency,  by  paying  better  government 
officers  and  employees,  better  wages,  then  requiring 
better  service. 

In  other  words  take  government  affairs  out  of  the 
hands  of  politicians,  out  of  politics.  It  can  be  done  if 
the  common  people  want  it  done  and  will  let  their  wants 
be  known. 

I  do  not  wish  to  see  individual  incentive,  individual 
initiative  or  individual  responsibility  spoiled  or  even 
"mussed  up,"  as  long  as  they  behave  themselves  and  do 
not  go  round  stealing  from  and  fooling  the  great  com- 
mon people  of  earth.  As  long  as  they  behave  themselves, 
as  long  as  they  are  honest  and  virtuous,  I  say  encourage 
them,  advise  and  help  them  to  prosper.  And,  with  this 
end  in  view  I  would  suggest  creating  and  establishing 
a  new  member  of  the  Presidents  Cabinet,  to  be  known  as 
Secretary  of  General  Information,  or  any  other  name, 
whose  duty  it  Would  be.  to  keep  in  touch  with  our  people, 
all  our  people — the  rich,  the  poor,  the  enterprising,  the 
lazy,  the  healthy,  the  sick,  the  farmer,  the  business  man 
the  man,  the  woman,  the  child — and  "advise"  them 


IS  CHRISTIANITY  A  FAILURE?  67 

what  our  government,  our  great  man-made  god,  thinks 
best  for  them  to  do,  in  regard  to  business,  health, 
courting,  marrying,  home  building,  plowing,  sowing, 
reaping,  harvesting,  dressmaking,  cooking,  home  keeping, 
business  dealings,  buying,  selling  and  a  thousand  other 
things  too  numerous  to  mention  that  would  be  of  im- 
mense value  to  our  brightest  and  wisest  citizens  and  of 
greater  value  to  our  dullest. 

It  is  true  our  government  does  some  of  these  things 
already  but  it  does  it  in  only  a  retail,  peanut  stand,  sort 
of  a  way.  What  we  need  is  for  our  government  to  do 
this  thing  in  a  Henry  Ford  sort  of  a  way. 

To  illustrate  what  I  am  trying  to  get  at  I  will  tell 
a  little  story  reciting  an  incident  in  my  life  and  then 
you  can  imagine  the  rest. 

About  fifteen  years  ago  I  was  farming  in  Imperial 
Valley.  My  neighbor  planted  ten  acres  of  cantaloupes. 
About  the  time  the  vines  blossomed,  this  neighbor  of- 
fered to  sell  me  his  eighty  or  one  hundred  and  twenty 
acre  ranch.  I  have  forgotten  the  actual  number  of 
acres,  for  five  thousand  dollars  which,  of  course,  included 
the  ten  acres  of  cantaloupes.  I  turned  his  proposition 
down  cold.  One  reason  was,  that  I  already  owned  a 
five  hundred  and  sixty  acre  ranch. 

About  ninety  days  later,  this  neighbor  of  mine  Was 
counting  the  cash  he  had  received  as  "profit"  on  the  ten 
acres  of  cantaloupes.  Their  was  a  little  more  or  a 
little  less  than  five  thousand  dollars,  the  price  he  asked 
for  his  whole  ranch,  cantaloupes  included. 

I  cleared  my  decks  for  action  and  planted  on  my 
ranch,  eighty  acres  of  cantaloupes  next  season.  I  tended 
those  cantaloupes  as  tenderly  as  a  society  woman  does 
a  pet  pup.  And  my,  how  those  melons  did  grow  and 
mature.  I,  and  my  renters,  spent  about  three  thousand 
dollars  and  expected  to  clean  up  about  fifty  thousand 
dollars. 

It  seemed  like  every  one  in  the  valley  got  the  same 
notion  at  the  same  time  and  at  harvest  time  cantaloupes 


68  IS  CHRISTIANITY  A  FAILURE? 

poured  out  of  Imperial  Valley  like  water  over  the  rocks 
at  Niagara. 

The  second  or  third  shipment  we  made  we  got  reports 
from  New  York  that  the  most  of  our  cantaloupes  were 
rotting  on  the  side  tracks;  that  a  few  autioned  off  at 
ten  cents  per  crate,  not  enough  to  pay  for  the  boxes. 

When  I  received  this  word,  I  had  two  four-horse 
loads  already  to  start  for  shipping  point  four  miles 
distant.  I  turned  the  horses  noses  the  other  way  and 
drove  to  the  middle  of  my  hog  pasture  and  dumped 
several  tons  of  choice  melons  in  nice  tissue  papers, 
saving  the  only  valuable  thing  about  them,  the  boxes. 
Most  every  one  else  in  the  valley  did  the  same.  We 
discharged  an  army  of  pickers,  packers  and  teamsters. 
''Business,"  all  around  was  demoralized  and  consequent- 
ly a  lot  of  suffering,  all  of  which  could  have  been 
avoided  had  our  government  then  had  a  Genral  Infor- 
mation Cabinet  Member. 

In  the  first  place  we  raised  too  many  melons. 

In  the  second  place  we  did  not  raise  too  many  melons, 
as  subsequent  events  proved  to  my  satisfaction. 

We  raised  too  many  melons  for  our  one  horse,  in- 
dividualistic "distributing"  system.  The  great  bulk  of 
our  crop  went  to  a  few  eastern  markets  while  hundreds 
of  markets  went  without  their  share.  This  was  one 
reason.  Another  was  that  we  were  handling  our  melons 
through  commission  merchants,  who,  as  we  afterwards 
ascertained,  made  a  practice  of  selling  car  load  lots  "at 
auction"  to  a  confederate  at  a  nominal  price»  the  price 
reported  to  us,  who  inside  of  a  day  or  two  would  resell 
at  a  price  several  times  greater  than  he  bought  for, 
making  big  money  for  themselves. 

Some  of  my  melons,  first  shipment,  or  melons  of 
the  same  shipment  as  mine,  were  purchased  at  $3.50  per 
crate  a  day  or  two  after  they  sold  for  less  than  a  dollar 
a  crate,  at  auction.  Now  under  government  supervision 
this  would  not  have  happened. 

Our  government  should  know  just  how  many  acres 


IS  CHRISTIANITY  A  FAILURE?  69 

of  melons  it  would  probably  be  safe  to  plant  and  warn 
the  producers,  the  same  as  our  governments  warns  us 
regarding  an  approaching  storm.  Our  government 
should  know  the  probable  condition  of  the  melon  market, 
where  it  is,  and  about  what  it  will  be.  Our  government 
should  say  to  the  melon  growers:  "It  is  safe  to  plant 
so  many  acres  of  melons.  Register  early  in  the  season, 
the  number  of  acres  you  intend  to  plant  so  we  may  give 
the  information  out.  Then  at  planting  time  tell  us  how 
many  acres  you  are  actually  planting  so  we  may  inform 
others.  When  the  danger  point  is  reacehd  we  will  send 
out  warning  not  to  plant  any  more  melons,  saying: 
you  may  follow  it  or  go  ahead  and  butt  your  own 
brains  out  just  as  you  like.  We  do  not  wish  to  offend 
your  'initiative'  but  take  our  advice  and  keep  your 
initiative  out  of  the  fire  of  business  if  you  dont  want 
to  get  it  blistered." 

People  would  "sit  up  and  take  notice"  and  millions 
of  dollars  in  energy  and  products  would  be  saved  each 
year  as  well  as  untold  suffering,  if  these  rules  should 
be  applied  to  all  business. 

This  would  be  a  fatherly,  Godly  way  for  a  govern- 
ment to  enter  private  business.  There  is  no  question 
but  what,  in  time,  our  government  would  take  over  the 
distributing  system  altogether,  but  that  is  for  the  future. 
We  must  grow,  evolute,  not  rush  or  leap  towards  a 
higher  civilization. 

The  Christian,  the  politician,  the  capitalist  and  the 
one  cylinder  statesmen,  would  keep  us  standing  still 
on  one  foot  like  a  sick  rooster.  The  Socialist  and  An- 
archist would  plunge  us  head-long  into  the  ditch.  Seems 
to  me  there  should  be  enough  Humanitarians  on  earth 
to  outvote  them  and  save  the  world  for  the  common 
people,  to  whom  it  rightfully  belongs.  Come,  Humani- 
tarians, let  us  get  together.  Let  us  organize  a  church 
and  educate  and  steer  civilization  in  the  right  direction. 
Let  us  quit  asking  God  and  Jesus  to  help  us  so  much, 
let  us  get  in  and  help  God  and  Jesus  some. 


MODERN    RELIGION   AND   BUSINESS 

The  preacher  gets  up  in  his  church  on  Sunday  and 
tells  of  Jesus ;  tells  how  fair,  good  and  honest  he  was ; 
tells  of  the  Golden  Rule ;  tells  what  Jesus  told  us  to  do 
and  pleads  with  us  to  follow  Jesus  and  "do  as  we  wish 
to  be  done  by."  The  choir  sings  and  "peace  on  earth 
good  will  to  man"  reigns  supreme — in  the  church  on 
Sunday.  Now  remember  this  is  Sunday.  Everybody 
has  just  had  a  bath  and  put  on  their  clean  duds  and  all 
are  feeling  "clean  and  good."  We  all  realize  what  a 
lovely  thing  Christianity  is.  How  refining,  uplifting 
and  civilizing  the  church  influence  is.  We  all  realize 
that  it  is  the  proper  thing  and  wonder  why  all  people 
do  not  become  Christians  and  join  our  church  and  be 
good  like  we  are — on  Sundays. 

So  far  so  good.  Now  what  happens  on  Monday? 
Do  these  church  members  follow  Jesus  in  their  business 
transactions  during  the  week?  Let  us  see.  There  is 
Mr.  Jones,  our  new  merchant,  who  sat  in  the  front  row 
at  church  on  Sunday  and  bowed  his  head  a  little  lower 
than  the  rest  while  the  preacher  prayed  and  who  said 
"amen"  a  little  louder  than  the  rest  when  the  preacher 
had  finished. 

Mr.  Jones  has  started  a  new  department  store  in  our 
town.  After  first  looking  the  situation  over  very  care- 
fully, he  saw  that  there  were  enough  merchants  in  town 
already  for  the  volume  of  business  transacted,  as  none 
of  the  merchants  were  rushed  with  business ;  all  making 
a  fair  living  but — Mr.  Jones  being  a  better  business  man, 
knowing  a  little  more,  not  being  quite  so  ignorant  and 
narrow  as  our  average  business  man,  with  a  little  more 
capital  behind  him,  he  starts  a  company  in  which  the 
preacher  and  many  of  the  congregation  buy  stock ;  which 
company  proceeds  to  open  a  big  store  carrying  a  general 
line  of  every  thing. 

Mr.   Jones   is    on    deck   at  his   store   early    Monday 


IS  CHRISTIANITY  A  FAILURE?  71 

morning  urging  his  employees  to  hustle  and  get  business, 
business  that  formerly  went  to  the  other  stores  in  town ; 
one  of  which  is  the  little  shoe  store  up  the  street  run  by 
Mr.  Dick,  a  member  of  the  same  church  as  Mr.  Jones, 
and  whose  wife  broke  her  arm  and  is  almost  an  invalid. 
Poor1  Mr.  Dick,  his  doom  is  sealed — his  little  shoe  store 
looks  deserted  since  Mr.  Jones  opened  his  big  store  and 
he  does  not  make  enough  to  pay  rent  and  taxes.  He 
must  quit  the  shoe  business  in  this  town  or  quit  it 
altogether,  unless  he  moves  to  a  smaller  town  and  runs 
some  financially  and  intellectually  weaker  "shoe"  man 
out  of  business  by  using  the  same  tactics  that  Mr.  Jones 
used  against  him,  or  goes  back  clerking. 

In  time  Mr.  Groceryman,  Mr.  Clothier  and  various 
other  Mr.  Merchants  all  travel  the  road  of  Mr.  Dick, 
the  shoeman.  All  of  them  having  their  personal  sorrows 
and  troubles  too  numerous  to  mention  besides  being  run 
out  of  business  and  almost  pauperized  by  a  member  of 
their  own  church,  associated  in  a  business  way  with  the 
preacher  and  many  other  Christian  brothers  and  sisters. 

The  secret  of  Mr.  Jone's  success,  is,  his  superior 
intellect,  his  superior  hustling  qualities,  his  superior 
financial  strength,  which,  when  all  combined,  spelled 
success.  He  could  sell  his  goods  at  a  profit  in  some 
instances,  placing  his  sale  price  below  that  which  other 
smaller  merchants  would  have  to  pay  buying  at  whole- 
sale prices.  What  show  did  brother  merchants  have? 
Did  Mr.  Jones  do  by  everybody  in  business  as  he  would 
wish  to  be  done  by?  Could  any  man  do  by  everybody 
as  he  would  wish  to  be  done  by  in  business  and  succeed 
under  our  present  system  ?  Is  the  Golden  Rule  a  fraud  or 
is  our  present  economic  system  a  fraud?  No  reasonable 
person  can  uphold  both.  Many  selfish  people  will  try 
to  cloud  the  issue  and  throw  pepper  of  false  reasoning 
in  people's  mental  eyes. 

Now  let  us  see  what  Mr.  Jones  really  did  with  the 
help  of  the  preacher  and  his  followers.  He  started  a 
better  store  in  our  town  and  sold  us  better  goods  at 


72  IS  CHRISTIANITY  A  FAILURE? 

lower  prices  with  better  service.  Mr.  Jones  certainly 
did  a  majority  of  our  people  a  lot  of  good  even  if  he  did 
climb  to  success  walking  on  the  dead  business  bodies  of 
our  former  merchants,  which  was  absolutely  necessary 
for  him  to  do  to  succeed  under  our  present  system. 
Mr.  Jones  pats  himself  on  the  back  while  thinking  of 
the  "good"  he  has  done,  while  filling  his  own  pocket 
book  at  the  same  time.  Mr.  Jones  is  feeling  fine,  thank 
you.  He  feels  two  inches  taller,  he  has  to  wear  a  hat 
two  sizes  larger,  he  says  "Amen"  a  little  louder  and  in 
fact  the  whole  Jones  family  are  well  satisfied  with 
everything  in  general  and  themselves  in  particular.  But 
how  about  the  fellows  who  were  busted  up  and  pau- 
perized byMr.  Jones  and  his  crowd.  How  about  their 
crippled,  sick  and  hungry  children  and  invalid  wives, 
perhaps,  and  a  great  many  other  perhaps's.  Oh,  never 
mind  them,  Jesus  would  never  give  those  failures  a 
thought;  that's  the  kind  of  a  fellow  Jesus  was?  Jesus 
would  praise  Mr.  Jones,  Mr.  Preacher  and  Mr.  Christian 
Church  Member  for  the  good  they  did  in  giving  so  many 
people  better  bacon  at  a  lower  price;  that's  Jesus  for 
you  all  over? 

But  hold  on !  I  saw  a  new  man  in  town  today.  He 
is  a  little  taller  than  Mr  Jones,  he  wears  a  little  larger 
hat  and  little  better  clothes.  He  told  me  that  since  our 
community  had  grown  so  fast  it  had  called  his  attention 
this  way  and  he  intends  to  build  an  up-to-date  store  in 
town,  ten  times  larger  then  the  out-of-date  Jones  store. 
Mr.  Jones  you  are  doomed,  your  days  are  numbered; 
you  will  soon  be  passed  on,  to  keep  company  with  the 
men  you  put  out  of  business  .  "So  round  and  round  we 
run" 

One  man  says  to  me.  "I  see  a  great  wrong  but  how 
are  you  going  correct  it?"  Me  correct  it?  What  are 
you  talking  about?  As  if  you  or  I  or  any  one  else  could 
correct  anything.  We  cannot  correct  it.  There  is 
nothing  for  us  to  correct.  This  is  Gods  way  of  educating 
selfish  mortals.  There  is  a  lesson  for  us  all  to  learn. 


IS  CHRISTIANITY  A  FAILURE?  73 

I  think  I  see  it  and  am  trying  to  pass  it  along.  It  is 
God  Almighty  working  to  bring  about  a  better  civiliza- 
tion. It  is  evolution,  mighty  irresistable  evolution,  gra- 
dually flowing  towards  the  fathomless  sea  of  wisdom, 
the  Creator  Himself.  Stop  it,  correct  it?  Ask  something 
easy  of  a  mortal.  Ask  him  to  turn  the  Mississippi  river 
with  his  bare  hands.  All  you  or  I  or  any  human  can 
do  is  to  get  out  the  way  and  not  hinder,  but  get  in 
somewhere  and  help  in  our  feeble  way  to  hasten  the 
process  even  as  we  can  aid  nature  in  the  growing  of 
fruits  and  cereals,  by  clearing  the  land,  cultivating, 
pruning,  etc. 

Do  you  not  see  the  great  scheme  of  salvation  that 
is  being  worked  out  by  the  Almighty  for  us  humans? 
Do  you  not  see  the  part  Mr.  Jones  played  unconsciously? 
Do  you  not  see  the  part  the  merchants  before  Mr.  Jones 
played?  Do  you  not  see  the  part  the  merchant  after 
Mr.  Jones  will  play  and  the  part  the  next  merchant  will 
play  also  ?  Do  you  not  see  the  ultimate  result,  collective 
co-operation?  This  is  no  man-made  scheme.  Various 
men  and  sets  of  men,  play  their  part,  in  a  selfish  manner, 
in  various  ages  and  pass  on,  ignorant  of  the  real  position 
they  held  temporarily  in  the  great  scheme  of  human 
salvation,  starting  with  vicious  individualism  and  ending 
in  civilized  brotherhood.  Come  people  help,  don't 
hinder. 

The  world  is  ready  for  another  decided  step  forword. 
We  should  take  it.  We  should  not  hinder.  The  step 
will  be  taken  sooner  or  later,  we  can  hasten  it.  But  to 
take  it  we  must  brighten  the  intellect  of  the  great  com- 
mon people  and  curb  our  own  selfishness.  We  must 
all  "do  as  we  wish  to  be  done  by." 

The  "spirit  of  God  is  moving  over  the  waters  of 
thought"  of  earth,  causing  mighty  mental  waves  that 
are  lashing  into  activity  the  most  dormant  minds  of  an 
extremely  materialistic  age.  The  Infinite  is  clearing 
away  mental  rubbish  preparatory  to  laying  a  foundation 
for  a  better  race  of  men.  The  Master  Builder  is  at  work, 


74  IS  CHRISTIANITY  A  FAILURE? 

and  what  seems  to  us  chaos  and  confusion  is  but  the 
orderly  gathering  of  material  and  workmen  to  carry 
on  the  great  scheme  of  evolution  of  mankind  in  the  only 
way  in  which  it  can  be  done.  We  are  all  privileged  to 
help,  but  God  pity  him  who  hinders. 

The  great  war,  caused  by  wrong  thinking,  has  done 
much  to  clear  our  mental  atmosphere.  Nothing  but 
brute  force  will  teach  brutal  men.  The  war  has  taught 
men  some  things  that  they  would  learn  in  no  way 
other  than  knocking  them  down,  and  then  telling  them 
what  to  do  afterwards. 

When  men  are  masters  the  teachings  of  Jesus  sound 
weak  and  silly  to  them.  When  they  become  slaves  and 
are  knocked  down  a  few  times  and  kicked  for  falling, 
they  then  begin  to  see  the  beauty  and  philosophy  in 
"do  as  you  wish  to  be  done  by." 

When  men  are  rich  and  powerful  they  begin  to 
dispute  about  "who  is  going  to  be  boss."  After  they  kill 
off  several  million  of  themselves  they  begin  to  wonder 
what  Jesus  meant  when  he  said  "if  thy  neighbor  demand 
thy  coat,  give  him  thy  cloak  also."  They  begin  to  see 
wisdom  in  the  sayings  of  "the  son  of  man  who  had 
nowhere  to  lay  his  head."  They  begin  to  realize  that  a 
high  order  of  serving  is  better  than  a  low  order  of 
bossing,  any;  time. 


EDUCATION  AND  CRIME 

People  are  of  more  importance  than  dollars,  religions 
and  governments,  and  when  these  man-made  institutions 
do  not  serve  the  best  interest  of  the  great  mass  or 
majority  of  people,  these  institutions  should  be  reformed. 
In  order  to  have  better  religions  and  better  governments 
we  must  necessarily  have  better  individuals  and  there 
is  only  one  way  to  make  them  better  and  that  is  proper 
education.  They  must  be  induced  to  think  correctly 
for  themselves  instead  of  believing  all  they  hear. 

All  of  us  have  those  above  us  and  those  below  us. 
We  should  copy  from  those  above  us  and  teach  and 
help  those  below  us.  We  should  not  boast  that  we  are 
better  than  others  but  rather  be  of  humble  mind  "like 
John  Wesley,  who,  looking  at  the  poor  drunkard  in  the 
gutter,  said :"  "But  for  the  grace  of  God,  there  lies  John 
Wesley." 

It  seems  to  me  that  the  average  human  is  a  potential 
criminal.  All  that  is  necessary  to  make  a  criminal,  or. 
what  we  call  a  criminal,  out  of  the  average  person  is 
to  make  the  temptation  or  aggravation  great  enough. 
For  instance,  take  the  average  Christian  gentlemen  or 
lady  for  that  matter,  who  knows  that  it  is  wrong  to 
steal  and  place  them  in  a  cold  barren  dungeon  with  no 
food  and  stripped  of  clothing,  in  which,  or  near  which, 
is  stored  plenty  of  food  and  clothing  unguarded  and  be- 
longing to  a  disinterested  person.  Now  let  me  ask  how 
many  well  fed,  clothed  and  housed  people,  placed  in 
a  dungeon  as  above  described,  would  not  take,  yes  steal, 
enough  food  and  clothing  to  meet  immediate  needs. 
How  many  of  you  would  starve  to  death  and  go  com- 
pletely naked  while  doing  said  starving,  rather  than 
steal? 

Some  may  say:  "Oh  that  is  different.  If  I  were  a 
creature  of  circumstances  over  which  I  had  no  control 
my  acts  would  be  justifiable."  May  be  not.  It  might  be 


76  IS  CHRISTIANITY  A  FAILURE? 

just  possible  that  it  was  partly  your  own  fault  being  so 
cast  into  this  dungeon.  It  is  just  possible  that  had  you 
exerted  a  little  more  strength  against  your  captors  or 
used  a  little  more  intelligent  strategy  you  might  have 
over  powered  or  outwited  them  and  escaped. 

Any  way,  if  you  are  allowed  to  use  this  argument 
in  your  hypothetical  defense,  real  criminals  should  be 
allowed  to  use  the  same  arguments  in  defense  of  stealing. 
You  take  people  practically  devoid  of  spirituality,  with 
very  limited  mentality,  who  can  not  possibly  think  deep 
or  straight,  who  never  think  much  about  anything  but 
their  own  desires  and  immediate  wants,  and  natural 
necessities,  who  are  cast  into  what  seems  to  them  a 
bleak  dungeon  of  want,  that  is  as  far  as  they  are  con- 
cerned, with  others  around  them  rolling  in  luxury — by 
the  superior  mental  and  financial  strength  surrounding 
them,  against  which  they  could  not  contend,  or  against 
which  they  thought  they  could  not  contend — (which 
amounts  practically  to  the  same  thing)  and  what  is  the 
result?  Crime,  or  what  we  call  crime.  Now  you  law 
abiding,  potential  criminals  should  not  censure  these 
real  everyday  criminals  for  doing  just  what  you  would 
do  under  the  same  circumstances. 

You  might  say:  Had  this  man,  who  stole  bread  and 
clothing  to  satisfy  his  hunger  and  keep  his  body  warm, 
worked  harder  and  been  more  saving  he  would  not  have 
needed  to  steal  when  he  was  out  of  work.  Or  you 
might  say  he  would  not  work  if  work  was  furnished 
him.  You  might  say  a  great  deal  against  him  that 
would  be  all  too  true.  But  admitting  all  that,  he  became 
a  criminal  because  the  temptation  was  great  enough  for 
his  mentality.  The  temptation  might  necessarily  have 
to  be  a  thousand  times  greater  to  cause  you  to  fall. 
But  few  people  will  fail  to  fall  when  the  choice  is  be- 
tween death  by  starvation  or  what  they  believe  to  be 
such,  and  falling.  Of  course,  some  fall  too  early.  They 
are  the  diseased  ones — morally  diseased — and  should  be 
treated  as  such.  Now  what  we  should  do,  is  make 


IS  CHRISTIANITY  A  FAILURE?  77 

conditions  and  environment  better,  and  we  will  grow 
better  people.  .  We  may  not  entirely  eliminate  bad 
people,  but  we  will  greatly  lessen  their  number.  Some 
people  are  born  criminals  and  would  commit  crime  on 
time  rather  than  do  the  right  thing  for  cash,  but  their 
number  is  not  large  and  this  class  of  people  should  be 
dealt  with  firmly  and  humanely,  eliminating  mushy 
sentimentality.  The  more  idle  people,  the  harder  times 
are,  the  more  stealing,  hold  ups,  etc.  There  should  be 
no  idle  people  who  want  and  need  work  and  no  hard 
times ;  they  are  both  absolutely  unnecessary  and  would 
not  exist  under  a  correct  economic  system. 

Crime,  or  most  of  it  at  any  rate,  is  a  disease  brought 
on  to  a  great  extent  by  unjust  religions,  unjust  economic 
systems  and  unjust  governments,  and  its  only  real  re- 
medy is  education ;  education  whose  tendency  is  to  make 
the  Golden  Rule  a  living  rule  and  fact  instead  of  a 
beautiful  theory.  The  day  must  come  when  we  all 
shall  much  prefer  helping  our  neighbor  in  business,  to 
robbing  him.  "We  must  quit  going  through  life  with 
our  faces  towards  the  past  and  our  backs  towards  the 
future.  There  is  none  of  us  so  high  but  what  there  are 
some  above  us  and  none  so  low  but  what  there  are 
some  below  us. 

Remembering  that  what  we  are  is  not  a  credit  to 
us,  that  had  our  ancestors  been  Hottentots,  we  would  be 
Hottentots  also ;  that  what  we  think  and  do  is  what 
counts.  And  what  we  think  and  do  depends  on  what 
other  people  thought  and  did  before  us ;  on  the  ideals 
of  our  ancestors,  their  environment  and  their  education. 
And  what  future  civilization  is  to  be  depends  largely 
on  what  we  of  to-day  think  and  do. 

Human  greed  and  lust  for  power  working  through 
religion,  economics  and  governments,  cunningly  work- 
ing upon  the  ignorance  and  prejudice  of  human  nature, 
is  the  greatest  enemy  of  human  liberty  and  human 
progress.  The  weapons  used  are  fear,  superstition,  sar- 
casm, ridicule  and  sophistry.  "Ignorance  is  the  chain 


78  IS  CHRISTIANITY  A  FAILURE? 

that  binds  the  mental  as  well  as  the  physical  in  bondage." 

To  have  better  religions,  better  economic  systems 
and  better  governments,  we  must  have  better  individuals. 
And  to  have  better  individuals  we  must  educate  them. 
To  educate  them  properly  and  cause  them  to  do  correct 
thinking  will  bring  universal  peace  to  the  world.  But 
how  are  we  to  do  this? 

It  is  my  opinion  that  it  can  be  done  in  no  other  way 
than  by  the  churches;  by  reforming  our  present 
churches;  by  our  present  preachers  quiting  their  sky 
piloting,  and  doing  some  earth  piloting;  or  by  starting 
a  new  church  movement  designed  to  become  world 
wide,  following  "teachers"  instead  of  "preachers." 

It  is  the  human  desire  of  one  person  or  set  of  persons 
to  rule  over  and  enslave  another  person  or  set  of  persons, 
that  must  be  fought.  The  desire  had  its  beginning 
when  some  prehistoric  man  took  a  rock  or  club  and 
brained  his  neighbor,  drank  his  blood  and  ate  his  flesh 
and  then  appropiated  the  wife  and  belongings  of  his 
victim.  It  is  the  desire  of  one  individual  to  triumph  over 
and  enslave  another  and  appropriate  what  rightfully  be- 
longs to  another.  Civilized  men  to-day  do  practically  the 
same  thing  in  a  more  gentlemanly,  civilized  manner; 
in  a  more  refined  and  polite  manner. 

It  is  slavery  in  a  more  subtle  form  than  old  crude 
physical  slavery ;  it  is  more  civilized  slavery,  economic 
slavery,  practiced  by  individuals,  sets  of  individuals  and 
by  nations  and  sets  of  nations.  They  do  unto  others 
not  as  they  wish  to  be  done  by.  This  is  the  trait  in 
human  nature  that  Jesus  tried  to  tame  and  curb  but 
succeeded  no  better  than  a  single  man  trying  to  control 
a  tornado.  There  is  no  such  thing  as  a  "Christian  nation" 
or  a  Christian  business  firm,  on  earth  to-day  and  mighty 
few  Christian  people,  speaking  in  the  broader  sense. 
People  who  live  a  Christian  life.  People  who  do  as  they 
wish  to  be  done  by  in  business  on  week  days  as  well  as 
in  church  on  Sundays. 

I  tell  you  it  is  impossible  to  be  a  true  Christian  in 


IS  CHRISTIANITY  A  FAILURE?  79 

our  world  today  and  live  and  fare  much  better  than  Jesus 
did.  He  tried  it  and  paid  with  his  life.  And  if  you  or 
any  one  attempts  it,  you  will  pay  with  your  business 
life.  Modern  business  men  and  modern  governments, 
have  no  use  for  Jesus,  his  doctrine  or  his  methods,  yet 
they  profess  to  have.  If  they  did  have,  and  tried  to 
practice  the  methods  of  Jesus  they  would  bust  up  in 
business;  they  could  not  compete  with  others  unless 
others  did  the  same.  It  is  the  old,  old  story  of  men  getting 
what  they  do  not  earn,  what  they  do  not  produce  with 
brain  or  hands.  In  olden  days  they  took  it  by  brute  force. 
Today  they  take  it  through  cunning  laws  and  customs, 
by  financial  strength  and  trickery,  by  "interest  on 
money"  and  other  methods. 

In  order  to  stop  it  we  must  rearrange  our  laws  and 
customs.  We  must  change  our  ideas.  We  must  do 
some  clear  and  straight  thinking.  We  must  start  right. 
Get  down  to  first  principles  and  nevei"  forget  our  ideals 
in  actual  everyday  affairs  if  we  wish  to  correct  the 
injustice  that  causes  so  much  trouble  and  we  wish  to 
have  real  everlasting  peace  on  earth.  If  we  will  follow 
just  one  simple  rule,  the  Golden  Rule,  to  its  logical 
conclusion  in  all  our  affairs  it  will  bring  us  real  peace 
on  earth,  nothing  else  will.  In  the  business  of  the  world 
this  rule  is  not  practiced  by  men,  firms  or  nations.  They 
all  preach  it  to  others  but  ignore  it  themselves. 

If  you  were  in  business,  had  a  nice  little  store,  was 
doing  well,  would  you  like  to  have  another1  person  open 
the  same  kind  of  a  store  near  you  and  take  away  your 
customers  and  put  you  into  bankruptcy?  Don't  we  all 
do  it  or  try  to  do  it?  Business  as  now  conducted  is  a 
hog  eat  hog  game.  Not  a  game  for  real  Christian 
gentlemen  to  play. 

If  you  were  China  would  you  like  to  have  a  lot  of 
Christian  nations  and  a  heathen  nation,  quarreling  over 
which  was  going  to  get  the  biggest  slice  of  you?  How 
would  you,  as  an  American  citizens,  like  to  hear  a  lot  of 
foreign  nations,  most  of  them  professed  Christian  nations 


80  IS  CHRISTIANITY  A  FAILURE? 

quarreling  over  which  was  going  to  get  the  biggest  slice 
of  our  America?  Our  own  nation  does  not  follow  the 
Golden  Rule  in  dealing  with  other  nations.  It  dare 
not,  it  could  not  do  it  and  live.  It  would  soon  be  hanging 
to  a  cross  as  Jesus  did  if  it  tried  it.  This  is  a  deplorable 
state  of  affairs  but  it  is  a  fact  nevertheless  and  it  is  time 
we  recognized  it  as  a  fact  and  started  in  to  correct  it. 
It  can  be  corrected  and  will  be  corrected.  But  it  must 
be  corrected  by  the  great  mass  of  the  people  of  all 
nations  of  earth,  working  together,  through  a  new  world 
movement  directed  towards  that  end,  justice  on  earth 
and  universal  peace.  The  common  people  of  earth  must 
work!  out  their  own  salvation.  Their  leaders  will  never 
do  it.  The  masses  must  be  educated  to  work  out  their 
own  problems  and  the  church  is  the  proper  and  only 
place  to  educate  and  prepare  the  people  for  universal 
peace  on  earth.  That  it  can  be  done  there  is  no  question. 
But  it  will  take  considerable  time  as  our  whole  economic 
system  must  be  reorganized  so  as  tQ  deal  out  justice  to 
all. 

The  great  common  people  of  earth  can  bring  per- 
manent peace  on  earth.  No  other  earthly  power  can 
do  it.  No  man  or  nation  alone  can  correct  these  evils, 
they  are  world  wide.  They  are  world  problems  and 
must  be  settled  by  the  great  common  people  of  earth. 
And  a  movement  must  be  started  by  which  the  people 
can  be  combined  first  for  enlightenment  and  education 
and  then  for  action. 

In  my  opinion  this  movement  to  succeed  must  be 
a  church  movement  as  I  believe  that  no  other  movement 
or  organization  could  ever  reach,  consolidate  and  hold 
in  an  unprejudiced  body,  the  great  common  people  of 
earth  to  study  and  correct  these  great  economic  evils, 
the  evils  that  are  causing  strikes  and  lock  outs  at  home 
and  wars  between  nations. 

I  believe  that  it  should  necessarily  be  a  new  church 
movement,  a  movement  outside  of  our  present  churches 
to  combine  the  intelligent  and  progressive  people  inside 


IS  CHRISTIANITY  A  FAILURE?  81 

of  our  present  churches  with  the  same  element  out  side 
of  our  present  churches.  We  must  get  all  good,  well 
meaning  people  together  where  they  can  talk  and  think 
these  great  questions  over  in  an  unbiased  manner.  'This 
could  never  be  done  in  a  political  organization  or  in 
superstitious,  religious  churches,  such  as  a  majority  of 
present  day  churches  are.  The  intelligent  people  outside 
of  our  present  churches  will  never  work  with  them  as 
long  as  they  drink  the  blood  of  Jesus. 

It  must  be  a  new  church  movement  which  the  present 
churches  may  join  later  on,  that  will  act  as  a  cementer 
of  the  people  instead  of  a  divider.  It  must  be  a  church 
that  leaves  each  member  free  to  choose  his  or  her  own 
religion  and  thoughts  of  the  world  to  come,  while  la- 
boring with  his  or  her  neighbors  to  better  conditions 
in  this  present  life  regardless  of  his  or  her  neighbors 
views  regarding  God,  Heaven  and  a  future  life. 

Trade  or  business,  causes  all  our  modern  wars  and 
domestic  disturbance.  The  first  cause  Is  always  the 
desire  of  one  person  or  set  of  persons  to  get  the  best 
of  another  person  or  set  of  persons  which  causes  the 
aggrieved  to  strike  back. 

The  row  between  capital  and  labor  never  will  be 
settled  until  all  capitalists  are  laborers  and  all  laborers 
are  capitalists  and  under  a  correct  economic  system  this 
would  naturaly  be  the  case  as  a  correct  system  will 
make  a  man  earn  all  he  gets  and  allow  a  man  to  get  all 
he  earns. 

There  are  a  great  many  reasons  why  this  is  not  the 
case  under  our  present  system.  One  reason  is  that 
there  are  too  many  non-producers ;  too  many  people 
who  never  produce  or  assist  in  producing  anything,  but 
are  always  consuming  what  other  people  produce  with- 
out giving  an  equivalent.  We  have  too  many  bums 
riding  on  the  backs  of  the  producers.  Too  many  people 
who  do  not  earn  all  they  get  and  are  wrongfully  taking 
from  the  people  who  do  not  get  all  they  earn.  We 
have  too  many  who  do  not  earn  practically  anything, 


82  IS  CHRISTIANITY  A  FAILURE? 

but  enjoy  the  very  best  of  the  good  things  of  this  life. 
We  have  too  many  lawyers,  too  many  preachers,  too 
many  real  estate  agents,  too  many  politicians  and  too 
many  soldiers  and  sailors.  All  these  people  must  be  fed, 
clothed,  housed  and  cared  for  by  the  producers,  by  the 
men  and  women  who  use  their  brains  and  hands  to 
produce  and  provide.  If  we  should  adopt  an  economic 
system  that  would  set  all  this  non-producing  population 
to  producing  it  would  be  better  for  everybody. 

Another  reason  why  justice  under  our  present  econo- 
mic system  is  denied  to  so  many  is  the  idea  of  raising  the 
importance  of  the  dollar  and  giving  it  a  position  it  does 
not  deserve. 

Everything  we  need  that  Nature  has  not  provided 
is  produced  by  men  and  women,  by  hands  and  brains. 
Dollars  do  not  work  and  produce  anything.  They  are 
not  real  capital,  they  merely  represent  real  capital  as 
a  deed  represents  a  piece  of  land.  When  a  capitalist 
starts  into  business  he  takes  his  dollars  and  trades  them 
for  land,  buildings,  tools  and  men's  labor.  What  the 
men  produce  is  really  valuable  not  the  dollars  them- 
selves. The  dollars  merely  represent  real  valuables, 
food,  clothing,  etc.  If  you  do  not  believe  this 
imagine  yourself  out  on  a  glazier  in  Alaska  in  a  storm 
without  food,  clothing  or  shelter,  but  with  a  million  dol- 
lars, and  then  decide  which  has  the  real,  intrinsic  value, 
the  dollars  or  the  things  dollars  represent;  the  things 
that  dollars  will  buy;  food,  clothing,  bedding,  shelter, 
etc. 

Now  in  our  present  economic  system,  dollars  are 
exalted  to  the  high  estate  of  men  and  women,  placed 
side  by  side  with  producers,  and  given  the  credit  of 
producing,  and  allowed  to  take  a  share  of  what  is  pro- 
duced; the  biggest  share  usually.  This  is  wrong. 
Dollars  should  be  servants  of  all  men  and  women,  not 
their  equals  and  masters. 


TITLE   INSURANCE   GRAFT 

One  of  the  biggest  grafts  of  the  "money  changers/' 
the  people  who  have  their  money  "work"  for  them,  is 
the  title  graft. 

Our  state  governments  could  furnish  its  cititzens 
certificates  of  title  and  guarantee  them  for  one  tenth  of 
what  our  citizens  now  pay  to  private  corporations  that 
are  weak  financially  when  compared  with  our  states, 
were  our  state  governments  given  a  monoply.  This  has 
been  proven.  There  are  several  reason  for  this,  one 
reason  is  that  our  present  system  is  wasteful  and  employs 
three  or  four  men  where  only  one  man  would  be  neces- 
sary, under  state  supervision.  All  large  title  companies 
keep  a  complete  record  of  all  property  transfers  in  their 
particular  territory  and  three  or  four  companies  usually 
cover  the  same  territory.  The  state  or  county  has  the 
original  record  which  under  state  supervision  would  be 
all  that  is  necessary,  and  quite  an  army  of  people  doing 
unnecessary  work  for  our  present  title  companies  could 
be  released  to  do  some  useful  productive  work.  This 
would  take  a  lot  more  people  off  of  the  backs  of  our 
producers  and  not  only  lighten  the  producers  loads  but 
these  new  producers  would  help  the  old  producers  carry 
the  lightened  burden.  What  would  the  title  companies 
do  then?  Simply  go  out  of  the  graft  business  the  same 
as  the  saloons  did  when  the  time  came,  the  same  as 
private  banks  will  do  when  the  time  comes.  No  one 
who  has  been  stung  by  them  would  mourn  and  nearly 
everybody  has  been  stung  whether  they  realize  it  or 
not. 

There  has  been  a  great  many  unsuccessful  attempts 
made  to  curb  the  greed  of  title  companies,  a  conspicious 
one  of  which  was  the  Torrens  Act  of  California,  under 
which  the  state  furnishes  a  better  title  at  about  one 
tenth  the  charge  made  by  the  title  companies.  "Money 
changers"  could  not  prevent  the  passage  of  the  law  but 


84  IS  CHRISTIANITY  A  FAILURE? 

they  practically  killed  the  law  after  it  was  duly  enacted. 
How  did  they  do  it?  Very  simple.  It  shows  the  power 
of  our  "invisible  empire."  It  shows  their  cunning,  subtle 
way  of  placing  themselves  above  the  law  and  making 
their  will,  law,  without  the  formality  of  Legislatures. 

They  got  together  and  had  a  gentlemens  agreement 
not  to  loan  money  on  a  certificate  issued  by  the  state. 
They  say  the  law  is  defective.  They  say  many  things 
that  are  only  partially  true  or  wholly  untrue.  But  we 
notice  that  the  "money  changers"  are  doing  nothing  to 
help  make  the  law  perfect,  so  the  people  will  be  able 
to  get  a  better  certificate  of  title  from  the  state  in  the 
future  for  one  dollar  than  they  pay  the  "money  changers" 
ten  dollars  for,  now.  You  see  "money  changers"  own 
the  stock  in  title  companies  and  they  are  not  going  to  aid 
a  movement  to  put  title  companies  out  of  business  by 
loaning  money  on  state  certificates.  Simple  enough. 

Don't  blame  the  money  changers  blame  yourselves 
for  allowing  these  things  to  exist.  It  is  your  ignorance 
that  they  feed  on.  Speaking  from  a  financial  point  of 
view  there  are  but  two  kinds  of  people  on  earth,  "money 
changers"  and  would-be  "money  changers."  We  will 
have  to  get  out  in  the  open  and  look  ourselves  over  as 
well  as  our  neighbors  and  agree  to  be  fair  with  others  if 
we  expect  others  to  be  fair  with  us.  We  must  all  put 
away  forever,  the  idea  of  getting  something  for  nothing. 
The  banker,  the  title  man,  the  speculator  and  the  mer- 
chant, when  not  engaged  in  robbing  each  other,  all 
rob  the  actual  producer,  he  in  turn  robs  the  hired  man 
and  the  hired  man  kicks  the  dog  while  awaiting  his 
opportunity  to  rob  some  one,  which  rarely  comes  unless 
he  takes  a  gun  and  masks  and  starts  in  business  for 
himself.  And  then  we  all  shout:  "Crime  Wave!" 

We  are  all  in  it,  we  all  pay  heavy  interest  when  we 
purchase  necessities  and  if  we  do  not  charge  interest 
when  we  have  a  chance,  we  begin  to  sink  rapidly  into 
Bunyons  Slough  of  Despond  where  we  would  be  no  good 
to  ourselves  or  any  one  else.  We  are  in  Rome  and  we 


IS  CHRISTIANITY  A  FAILURE?  85 

have  sense  enough,  I  hope,  to  do  as  Rome  does  until 
Rome  changes.  No  one  or  one  thousand  men  can  change 
our  economic  system  and  no  one  but  a  crank  will  think 
he  can.  This  is  a  job  for  a  God  to  do.  We  mortals  can 
all  help  or  hinder  some.  I  intend  to  help  if  I  can,  all  I 
can.  I  think  I  see  the  cause  and  cure  of  many  of  our 
troubles  I  may  be  right  and  I  may  be  wrong,  time  will 
tell.  I  think  I  am  right. 

One  man  said  to  me :  "You  would  have  our  govern- 
ment doing  everything,  bringing  you  a  drink  of  water  in 
the  night,  you'd  make  a  regular  monkey  out  of  our 
government,  you  would." 

Well,  now  really,  it  seems  to  me  that  others  before  my 
time  have  done  a  lot  towards  causing  our  government  to 
arrive  at  the  ideals  I  am  accused  of  desiring  for  it. 

In  the  first  place  the  City  of  Los  Angeles  does  bring 
me  a  drink  of  water  in  the  night  whenever  I  desire  it, 
as  well  as  any  time  in  the  day  also.  Not  only  this,  but 
it  brings  me  water  to  sprinkle  a  lawn  and  water  a  garden, 
it  brings  my  chickens  and  cow  a  drink  whenever  they 
want  it.  It  brings  all  this  water  between  two  and  three 
hundred  miles  and  delivers  it  to  me  for  a  trifle  over  one 
dollar  per  month.  Now  do  you  suppose  a  person  or 
private  corporation,  could  or  would  do  this  for  me  at  that 
price,  or  five  times  that  price,  if  there  was  no  competition 
or  restraining  authority  over  the  person  or  corporation? 
Is  the  City  of  Los  Angeles  doing  what  it  should  not  do 
in  "bringing  me  a  drink  of  water  in  the  night?"  At 
what  it  costs  the  City  to  do  it?  Why  shouldn't  the 
state  make  me  a  certificate  of  title  for  what  it  costs  the 
state?  Why  shouldn't  the  government  loan  me  money 
on  good  security  at  actual  cost  to  the  government? 
Why  shouldn't  the  government  aid  and  encourage  me 
all  it  can  at  cost  to  the  government,  to  make  me  a  better, 
wiser  and  more  substantial  citizen?  Why  shouldn't  a 
government  act  fatherly  towards  its  citizens,  taking  an 
intelligent  and  helpful  interest  in  them,  instead  of  acting 
in  a  cold,  brutal  manner  towards  them?  You  may  say 


86  IS  CHRISTIANITY  A  FAILURE? 

it  does  act  fatherly  at  present.  It  educates  them,  pro- 
tects them  from  the  physically  strong  and  punishes  them 
when  they  go  wrong  and  performs  various  other  services 
for  them  too  numerous  to  mention. 

Now  I  admit  all  this,  and  use  it  as  an  argument  why 
it  should  do  more  for  us,  and  improve  our  condition, 
especially  the  condition  of  the  needy,  and  we  have  mil- 
lions of  them,  who  under  a  better  government  than  we 
have  at  present  would  not  be  needy.  We  have  a  good 
government,  the  best  on  earth,  yes !  Now  let  us  have 
a  better  government.  If  the  great  common  people  of 
America  will  it  so,  it  will  happen  immediately.  Let  us 
see  how  money  direct  to  its  citizens  without  interest 
other  than  actual  cost  of  furnishing  the  money  would 
work. 

Under  our  present  system  a  young  man  gets  married, 
having  enough  money  to  purchase  a  lot,  he  builds  a 
house  and  mortgages  the  lot  and  house  to  pay  for  the 
house.  He  starts  paying  interest  at  from  7  to  10% 
and,  under  the  most  favorable  circumstances,  he  will  be 
years  paying  out.  Of  course  a  great  deal  depends  upon 
the  man,  his  ability  to  acquire  and  save  money  as  well 
as  on  luck,  accident,  sickness,  hard  times,  etc.  But  I 
venture  to  say  that  in  the  average  case  no  man  will  have 
worked  for  and  paid  for  his  home  in  full  until  he  has 
worked  for  and  paid  for  a  half  a  home  in  interest.  He 
gets  the  home  and  the  money  lender  gets  the  half  a  home 
through  interest  on  money,  without  working  for  it.  Now 
wouldn't  it  be  a  better  state  of  society  in  which  the 
young  man  got  his  home  and  the  half  a  home  as  a 
surplus  for  educating  his  family,  or  for  a  rainy  day  or 
old  age,  and  the  money  lender  would  have  to  work  for 
all  the  homes  or  half-a-home's  he  got?  How  much  nicer 
it  would  be  for  the  man  who  works.  He  would  shake 
off  the  drone,  the  man  who  shirks. 

One  man  asked :  "What  would  people  do  with  their 
money  if  they  couldn't  get  interest  on  it." 

Oh  fudge !  Use  it  to  buy  things  with,  the  same  as 
we  do  now.  Don't  quit  the  game  just  because  you  are 


IS  CHRISTIANITY  A  FAILURE?  87 

not  allowed  to  use  loaded  dice.  People  have  been  using 
money  so  long  to  rob  each  other  with  that  they  can't 
think  of  anything  else  but  robbery  in  connection  with 
money. 

We  must  first  get  straight  and  clear  what  money 
really  is  or  what  it  should  be,  rather,  and  then  not  forget 
it  when  we  consider  complicated  business  transactions. 

Money  is,  or  should  be,  nothing  more  or  less  than  a 
bookkeeping  system,  which  enables  people  to  store  up, 
hold,  exchange,  divide  and  use  utilities  readily,  while  al- 
lowing the  government  a  chance  to  draw  its  support  from 
the  people  in  an  equitable  manner.  The  volume  of 
money  should  never  have  any  effect  on  the  price  of 
utilities,  as  the  volume  should  be  kept  scientifically  at 
the  proper  amount  for  the  volume  of  business  trans- 
acted. 

Now  this  would  be  a  very  simple  matter  under  a 
scientific,  governmental  monetary  system,  but  absolutely 
impossible  under  our  present  system. 

Under  our  present  system  a  little  "scare"  and  a  large 
proportion  of  our  "medium  of  exchange"  is  withdrawn 
indefinitely  from  circulation  over  night,  by  the  owners, 
and  prices  are  greatly  affected.  There  is  a  remedy  and 
a  simple  one.  Under  government  ownership  and  control 
of  money,  the  "scare"  would  not  be  apt  to  develop  and 
the  government  could  easily  stop  it  if  it  did,  unless  it 
was  caused  by  war  or  some  similar  rare  event. 


GOVERNMENT 

When  we  of  today  think  of  government,  we  must 
necessarily  too  often  think  of  a  big  burly  brutal  police- 
man with  clubs  and  guns  lording  it  over  the  well 
meaning  citizen  who  leaves  his  auto  at  the  curb  a  little 
too  long  or  commits  some  other  technical  "crime"  while 
real  criminals  are  doing  a  rushing  business  unhampered 
by  our  police.  We  must  necessarily  think  too  much  of 
armies,  navies,  wars,  killing  and  insolent  "authority" 
domineering  over  its  creators,  murdering  them  at  will 
and  causing  them  to  murder  others  and  destroy  property. 

We  can  and  must  change  this.  In  the  distant  future 
when  posterity  thinks  of  government  they  will  think  of 
a  father  stern  but  kind  and  noble.  Stern  when  its  citi- 
zens do  what  all  well  meaning  people  concede  to  be 
wrong,  and  kind  when  its  citizens  do  the  best  they  can, 
whatever  that  may  be ;  taking  a  humane  interest  in  the 
welfare  of  all  its  citizens  and  planning  for  their  better- 
ment. Using  its  great  organizing  power  to  raise  armies 
to  fight  disease,  to  fight  poverty  and  banish  from  earth 
the  fear  of  it,  to  fight  ignorance  and  crime  in  an  intelli- 
gent manner  instead  of  raising  armies  to  kill  people. 
A  government  that  will  aid  men  to  build  and  beautify 
homes  instead  of  a  government  spending  billions  to  de- 
stroy homes,  compelling  its  citizens  to  kill  and  cripple 
citizens  of  other  governments  and  then  turning  a  cold 
shoulder  to  its  maimed  and  crippled  soldiers  when  in 
need ;  leaving  them  to  shift  for  themselves  getting  dough- 
nuts from  the  Salvation  Army,  bandages  from  the  Red 
Cross,  and  what  little  sympathy  they  can  from  public 
charity.  A  government  that  can  and  will  aid  its  worthy 
citizens  financially  instead  of  a  government  when  in 
trouble,  that  will  urge  and  force  its  citizens  to  buy  its 
bonds  "until  it  hurts,"  and  then  allow  those  bonds  to  be 
dragged  through  the  gutter  by  the  money  changers, 
aye,  and  the  government  actually  sharing  in  the  financial 
benefit  derived  from  the  depreciating  of  its  own  bonds 


IS  CHRISTIANITY  A  FAILURE?  89 

held  by  its  citizens  who  bought  bonds  "until  it  hurts," 
while  politicians  roll  in  luxury. 

Our  present  government  loves  its  politicians,  our 
future  government  will  love  its  common  citizens,  the 
more  helpless  the  citizen  the  greater  will  be  the  evidence 
of  the  love.  We  must  look  to  the  better  element  of  the 
women  voters  of  the  world  to  help  put  a  heart  and 
conscience  in  our  governments.  The  men  left  to  them- 
selves will  never  do  it.  Intelligence  and  will  alone  are 
not  enough.  It  may  take  a  long  time  to  educate  the 
women  enough  to  cause  them  to  see  their  opportunity 
and  duty.  But  they,  with  the  help  of  a  few  men  are 
the  hope  of  the  future.  Make  the  issue  a  religious  one 
and  a  woman's  natural  tendency  towards  all  things  re- 
ligious will  bring  a  better  civilization  in  spite  of  the 
male  tendency  to  triumph  over  and  play  lord  of  all  he 
surveys,  regardless  of  the  rights  of  other  God  made 
creatures. 

No  part  of  our  government  needs  reforming  more 
than  our  courts.  They  are,  to  a  large  extent,  courts  of 
injustice.  An  honest  peaceable  gentleman  or  lady  stands 
but  little  chance  of  obtaining  justice  in  our  courts  when 
confronted  by  a  dishonest  tricky,  fighting  opponent  who 
has  money  enough  to  hire  an  able  but  unprincipaled 
lawyer. 

No  one  expects  real  honesty  in  a  lawyer.  No  one 
expects  a  lawyer  to  refuse  a  case  and  forego  a  fat  fee 
because  he  knows  his  client  to  be  a  dishonest  wretch  who 
is  trying  to  use  the  courts  to  help  him  rob  some  one 
through  a  technicality.  We  have  a  few  honest  lawyers. 

Our  courts  are  crowded  with  cases  that  were  filed 
for  the  sole  purpose  of  robbing  or  blackmailing  some  one. 
There  is  a  way  to  stop  it.  But  do  not  expect  a  set  of 
hungry,  morally  deficient  lawyers  to  help  stop  it.  They 
faten  on  the  injustice  of  our  courts. 

Before  the  people  can  stop  all  this  injustice,  the  people 
themselves  must  get  away  from  certain  fundamental, 
superstitious  delusions  and  childish  fancies. 


90  IS  CHRISTIANITY  A  FAILURE? 

The  people  must  get  the  dishonest  idea  of  getting 
something  for  nothing  out  of  their  minds.  They  must 
get  rid  of  the  thought  of  getting  rich  through  gambling 
or  an  inheritance.  They  must  depend  on  study,  thought, 
work  and  thrift  for  wordly  prosperity.  They  must  cease 
dreaming  of  being  transformed  from  criminality  to  in- 
nocense,  from  disease  to  health,  from  poverty  to  wealth, 
from  idiocy  to  intelligence  from  incompetency  to  pro- 
ficiency, or  from  a  degraded  earth  life  to  an  exalted 
heavenly  life  in  an  instant.  We  will  all  be  the  same 
imperfect  beings  the  next  day  after  death  that  we  were 
the  day  before  our  death. 

We  must  study  and  try  to  learn  more  about,  and 
follow  as  near  as  can,  the  laws  of  nature,  human  nature 
as  well. 

We  must  progress  and  evolute,  not  hop,  skip  and 
jump  up  to  an  environment  that  we  would  not  be  fit  to 
live  in  on  account  of  not  being  innately  worthy.  A  hog 
would  not  be  a  success  in  a  parlor.  Neither  would  we 
be  a  success  in  heaven  until  we  deserved  it ;  until  we 
progessed  up  to  it,  even  as  a  tree  grows  towards  heaven. 

Humanity  is  growing  and  our  earthly  laws,  customs 
and  institutions  must  be  remodeled  to  meet  the  situation. 

Humanity  has  outgrown  its  present  clothes  and 
stands  to-day,  man  grown  or  nearly  so,  wearing  its 
nursery  garments ;  one  half  of  it  sucking  the  bottle  of 
Sabbath  keeping,  superstitious,  revealed  religion,  while 
the  other  or  a  large  portion  of  it  in  our  own  America 
at  least,  sucks  home  brew,  nacrotics  and  cigaretts. 

The  silly  religionists  must  quit  it,  and  the  booze  and 
narcotic  fiends  must  quit  it. 

I  belong  to  neither  class,  but,  were  it  absolutely 
necessary  for  me  to  join  one  side  or  the  other  in  order 
to  live  my  present  life  through,  I  would  join  the  home 
brew  crowd,  as  I  consider  them  the  least  of  the  two  evils. 
They  certainly  have  more  generosity  and  kindly  humane 
feeling  in  their  hearts  than  do  the  bigoted,  selfish  reli- 
gionists who  are  trying  to  make  mental  slaves  of  us  and 


IS  CHRISTIANITY  A  FAILURE?  91 

take  the  sun  out  of  our  Sunday  while  scattering  gloom 
like  a  mammoth  grave  cloth  of  a  man-made  god,  over  our 
beautiful  earth. 

Nearly  all  our  earthly  affairs  need  some  "fixing." 
Our  mariage  and  divorce  laws  need  attention.  It  is  too 
easy  to  make  a  contract  of  marriage,  the  theory  of  which 
is  that  death  alone  can  cancel.  And  too  hard  for  two 
mismated  people  to  be  separated,  especially  where  there 
are  no  children  to  be  wronged  by  the  separation.  When 
no  children  are  concerned  the  separation  should  be  more 
the  business  of  the  two  parties  themselves,  than  that  of 
other  people.  The  law  should  not  compel  any  two  to 
marry  or  compel  any  two  to  stay  married  when  no 
children  are  involved.  If  this  were  the  case  there  would 
be  a  whole  lot  less  inharmony  on  earth.  But  when  people 
have  children  they  assume  responsibilities  that  they 
should  not  be  allowed  to  shirk  even  though  they  must 
suffer  greatly  in  carrying  a  burden  they  willingly 
shouldered.  The  interests  of  the  innocent  should  be 
considered  first. 

Marriage  should  be  made  harder,  much  harder  than 
it  is  at  present.  And  divorce  easier  when  no  children 
are  to  suffer  from  the  separation.  People  who  are  not 
congenial  and  harmonious  together,  should  be  allowed 
to  seperate  without  either  becoming  a  criminal  as  at 
present. 

If  marriage  was  made  harder  there  would  be  less 
divorces,  that  is,  if  they  were  made  harder  in  the  right 
way;  in  a  way  so  that  the  parties  would  become  better 
acquainted.  People  marrying  who  do  not  really  know 
each  other  causes  the  most  of  our  matrimonial  troubles. 


ONE  CAUSE  OF  THE  LATE  WAR 

The  late  world  war  was  caused  by  wrong  thinking. 
The  world  allowed  brutal  men  to  run  the  affairs  of  earth 
and  bowed  down  to  and  honored  their  brutality.  Such, 
men  as  Alexander  and  Napoleon,  men  who  had  an  insane 
desire  to  rule  the  world  and  crush  under  their  feet  any 
one  who  opposed  them.  The  world  has  too  long  honored 
them,  when  in  fact  these  men  were  the  personification 
of  murder,  brutality  and  lust.  Love  of  humanity  was 
foreign  to  their  natures.  They  were  the  despoilers  of 
homes.  They  made  multitudes  of  orphans  and  widows, 
and  filled  the  ground  with  the  bodies  of  the  best  men  of 
earth.  They  tore  down  in  a  day  what  thousands  of  other 
men  built  up  with  years  of  weary  toil.  They  robbed 
the  weak  and  helpless  on  a  mammoth  scale.  They  were 
international  criminals,  but  were  honored,  greatly 
honored,  we  honored  them  and  taught  our  children  to 
honor  them.  We  praised  them  in  school  books.  This 
was  all  wrong.  Our  honoring  them  misleads  other  am- 
bitious men  and  gives  them  the  wrong  idea  of  greatness. 
If  Alexander  and  Napoleon,  as  well  as  others  like  them, 
had  been  pictured  to  be  the  criminals  that  they  were, 
other  men  would  not  be  so  war  like  today.  We  of  today 
had  to  fight  simply  because  a  few  men  wanted  to  rule 
the  world.  They  were  trying  to  out  do  Alexander  and 
Napoleon,  a  wrong  thinking  worlds  greatest  heroes.  Had 
these  men  been  hung  as  they  should  have  been  and  had 
the  world  been  taught  that  any  man  or  set  of  men  who 
tries  to  intimidate  the  world,  should  be  dealt  with  as 
dangerous  criminals,  the  world  war  would  not  have 
been  fought.  Ambitous  men  would  be  exerting  their 
energies  to  build,  not  destroy,  to  make  homes  happy 
not  to  bring  death  and  cripples  to  them.  It  is  a  human 
weakness  to  crave  honor,  great  honor,  and  what  the 
world  honors,  men  will  strive  for,  will  lay  down  their 
lives  for. 

Ideas  run  the  world  and  a  bad  idea  is  more  dangerous 


IS  CHRISTIANITY  A  FAILURE?  93 

then  a  gun  or  a  plague  circulating  through  the  land. 
No  permanent  peace  can  come  until  the  world  adopts 
the  "live  and  let  live"  policy,  the  "do  as  you  wish  to  be 
done  by  rule";  until  we  quit  being  proud  of  wholesale 
murderers.  The  attitude  we  should  take  towards  the 
killing  that  our  boys  did  do,  is  not  one  of  pride  but  one  of 
sorrow.  We  should  be  sorry  that  it  is  and  was  necessary 
for  them  to  kill.  We  should  look  on  it  as  an  unpleasant 
duty  they  performed  for  us  and  our  attitude  towards 
them  should  be  one  of  gratitude,  not  heartless  indiffer- 
ence. We  should  feel  sad  because  it  was  necessary  for 
them  to  murder  and  destroy.  We  should  not  be  proud 
of  it  but  rather  teach  them  to  be  sorry  that  it  was  neces- 
sary. Teach  them  that  it  was  necessary  because  we  older 
people  made  it  necessary  through  wrong  thinking  and 
neglect  to  curb  vicious  teaching  and  vicious  men  in  time. 

Before  this  earth  can  be  made  safe  for  democracy 
it  must  be  made  unsafe  for  brutality.  Before  we  can 
expect  humane  action  we  must  plant  humane  ideas.  We 
must  cease  teaching  our  children  that  men  who  kill  are 
great.  The  world  is  guilty  of  honoring  the  brutes  that 
the  Kaiser  patterned  from.  We  must  do  some  real  hard 
thinking  now  that  the  fighting  is  over  for  a  spell.  This 
war  raised  up  a  new  crop  of  heroes.  Let  us  give  them  a 
sane  and  enlightended  appriciation  and  not  a  blind  and 
superstitious  homage.  Selfish  and  designing  men  pro- 
pagate wrong  ideas  in  politics,  religion  and  every  day 
affairs.  The  next  great  war  will  be  a  battle  of  ideas. 

We  must  propagate  new  and  better  ideas  if  we  want 
better  conditions. 


JESUS  OF  NAZARETH 

We  should  study  the  teachings  of  the  world's  greatest 
leaders,  Jesus  of  Nazareth,  Confucius,  Guatama  and 
others.  The  best  of  their  teachings  put  into  practice,  will 
bring  world  peace  and  prosperity.  Few,  if  any,  leaders 
who  ever  lived  on  this  earth  since  our  present  written 
history  began,  can  approach  these  moral  giants  in  wis- 
dom. Their  best  thought  put  into  everyday  practice  will 
save  the  world.  The  trouble  is  few  people  of  earth  know 
what  these  men  really  taught.  The  fact  is  they  all  taught 
practically  the  same  thing  in  substance,  especially  in 
regard  to  morality,  man's  duty  to  man.  They  were  great 
and  good  men,  the  world's  greatest.  But  they  were  all 
men,  not  gods,  and  the  preponderance  of  evidence  at  our 
command  proves  that  none  of  them  ever  claimed  to  be 
a  god,  and  the  writings  that  put  such  words  in  their 
mouths,  embarass  and  slander  them,  thereby  lessening 
their  power  for  good  on  earth  among  enlightened  and 
thinking  people.  The  history  of  their  own  doings  and 
sayings  proves  this  to  an  unbiased,  thinking  person 
who  takes  the  trouble  to  investigate.  They  were  born 
as  other  men  are  born,  grew  as  other  men  grow,  in  both 
body  and  mind,  changing  their  views  and  opinions  from 
time  to  time.  As  they  grew  older,  of  course,  they  became 
wiser,  greater  and  better.  It  is  too  bad  that  Jesus  could 
not  have  lived  longer.  At  first  he  distinctly  stated  his 
Gospel  was  not  for  the  Gentiles.  At  that  time  Jesus 
was  narrow ;  a  patriotic  Jew,  but  the  persecution  by  his 
own  people,  evidently  drove  him  to  broaden  out  and 
include  all  of  humanity  in  his  program. 

The  Bible  accounts  of  Jesus  are  so  contradictory 
and  ambiguous  regarding  his  teachings  that  it  is  hard 
for  anyone  to  be  positive  of  just  what  Jesus  did  say  or 
do.  Hence  the  endless  arguments  and  disagreements 
when  people  read  the  accounts  without  first  putting 
blind,  uneducated  faith  where  reason  should  be. 


IS  CHRISTIANITY  A  FAILURE?  95 

The  coming  of  Jesus  on  earth  did  not  change  it  much 
for  the  better.  Before  he  came,  people  were  good  to  their 
friends,  killed  their  enemies  and  robbed  each  other  when- 
ever they  thought  they  could  get  away  with  it.  Since 
the  coming  of  Jesus  about  the  same  thing  happens  right 
along,  with  the  possible  difference  that  a  good  deal  of 
the  robbing  and  killing  nowadays  is  done  in  the  name 
of  Jesus. 

Jesus  was  a  great  moral  teacher  who  originated,  as 
far  as  he  was  concerned,  or  repeated  what  those  born 
hundreds  of  years  before  him  taught,  it  makes  no  differ- 
ence which ;  we  must  follow  his  main  teachings  or  never 
have  universal  peace  on  earth.  Nothing  but  his  teachings 
or  the  best  part  of  his  teachings,  put  into  everyday 
practice  will  stop  wars. 

We  must  not  do  as  Jesus  did,  nor  must  we  do  all 
that  Jesus  is  supposed  to  have  told  us  to  do.  We  should 
not  follow  the  words  and  teachings  that  were  put  into 
the  mouth  of  Jesus  after  he  was  dead,  by  designing 
priests.  Neither  must  we  literally  follow  Jesus ;  that  is, 
do  as  he  did.  Simply  because  it  cannot  be  done.  To 
begin  with  we  would  all  remain  single  and  no  children 
would  be  born  on  earth,  which  would  annihilate  the 
human  race  inside  of  a  century. 

Next,  we  would  all  be  traveling  preachers,  living 
off  of  others  and  producing  nothing  ourselves ;  storing 
up  nothing  for  the  morrow  on  this  earth ;  but  we  would 
be  going  ragged,  hungry  and  cold  while  storing  up  treas- 
ures in  heaven,  after  deserting  our  fathers  and  mothers, 
our  wives  and  children  as  the  mythical  Jesus  of  the 
Gospels  commanded  (words  of  priests,  not  of  Jesus). 

We  would  not  resist  evil.  "Resist  ye  not  evil."  (words 
of  priests  only,  to  cause  people  to  submit  to  injustice 
practiced  by  kings,  nobles  and  priests.)  We  would  dis- 
charge all  the  police  forces  and  allow  the  evil  minded  to 
abuse  our  wives  and  families.  I  say  the  man  or  woman 
or  book  that  says  Jesus  of  Nazareth  ever  uttered  any 
such  nonsense  is  deliberately  falsifying  or  is  greatly 


96  IS  CHRISTIANITY  A  FAILURE? 

mistaken.  I  am  not  sure  that  Jesus  really  needs  me  to 
do  so,  but  I  am  going  to  stand  up  for  him.  I  am  going 
to  take  his  part  against  these  people  who  are  trying  to 
make  out  that  Jesus  was  a  divine  idiot.  No  sane  person 
will  say:  "resist  ye  not  evil",  and  mean  what  he  says. 
Jesus  fought  evil  with  all  his  power,  like  a  red  blooded 
sane  man,  taking  the  Bible  for  it.  If  we  judge  Jesus  by 
all  the  Bible  says  of  him,  he  flatly  contradicts  himself. 
He  was  evidently  too  wise  and  good  a  man  to  do  this, 
therefore  I  do  not  belive  all  the  Bible  says  of  him. 

According  to  the  Bible  Jesus  utterly  ignored  human 
slavery  which  was  universal  at  his  time.  Had  Jesus  no 
pity  for  the  poor  galley  slave  chained  to  his  oar  for 
life?  I  believe  he  did  have  and  I  believe  so  great  and  good 
a  man  as  Jesus,  condemned  such  slavery  with  all  the 
force  he  could  command  but  why  is  it  not  recorded? 
Ask  the  shades  of  those  ancient  priests  who  manipulated 
our  religion  in  its  early  stages,  they  know  why.  Had 
Jesus  no  pity  for  the  victims  of  white  slavery  that  pre- 
vailed everywhere  in  his  day?  Again  ask  the  priests 
why  his  protest  was  not  recorded.  Had  Jesus  no  pity 
for  the  mother  and  babies  made  fatherless  and  perhaps 
homeless  through  his  supposed  "command"  to  the  father 
to  forsake  them  and  follow  Jesus?  And  again  ask  the 
priests  why  this  went  into  our  Bibles  this  way. 

The  father  who  would  desert  his  loving  wife  and 
helpless  babes  to  follow  any  man  or  any  man-made  god, 
is  certainly  a  demon  and  an  imbecile. 

Then  what  did  Jesus  say?  It  is  almost  impossible  for 
a  sane  thinking  person  to  answer  this  question,  as  Jesus 
was  an  uneducated  man  and  evidently  could  not  write. 
Had  he  been  a  God  he  could  have  written  anything  in 
any  language  and  it  is  reasonable  to  suppose  that  he 
would  have  written  had  he  been  able  to  do  so,  instead 
of  trusting  to  luck  to  have  his  words  transmitted  down 
the  ages.  He  would  have  known  that  he  would  be  mis- 
quoted, misjudged  and  misunderstood,  and  would  have 
placed  his  sayings  on  parchment,  or  stone  or  metal,  in 


IS  CHRISTIANITY  A  FAILURE?  97 

language  so  plain  that  any  normal  person  could  under- 
stand what  he  meant.  But  the  facts  are,  if  we  are  allowed 
to  use  our  reason,  that  he  was  not  a  god,  not  even  an 
"educated"  man  as  we  understand  the  word ;  that  he  was 
a  wandering,  homeless,  churchless  preacher,  a  political 
and  moral  outcast  of  his  time,  a  tender-hearted  man, 
overflowing  with  pity  for  common  humanity ;  an  honest, 
earnest  uneducated  man,  with  wonderful  natural  ability 
as  a  thinker  and  moral  teacher  of  the  human  race ;  one 
of  those  rare  characters  appearing  on  earth  at  widely 
separated  periods  of  time. 

Jesus  as  a  man  was  a  success ;  he  was  humane ;  he 
was  grand ;  but  Jesus  as  a  god  was  a  failure.  Physically 
speaking,  he  was  a  weakling.  Imagine  a  god  nailed  to 
a  cross  by  human  demons  with  blood  streaming  down 
his  body,  and  being  tortured  into  admitting  that  he  was 
not  a  god  when  uttering  the  words  "My  God,  My  God, 
why  hast  thou  forsaken  me?" 

Does  this  picture  excite  your  admiration.  Would 
you  like  to  see  such  enacted  in  real  life.  What  can  a 
reasonable  person  get  out  of  such  a  picture  but  "pity", 
and  hatred ;  pity  for  one  of  the  greatest  and  best  men 
who  ever  lived,  and  hatred  for  his  tormentors.  I  cannot 
admire  the  picture.  I  cannot  admire  Jesus  as  a  god,  who 
would  allow  his  creatures  to  become  so  debased  as  to 
murder  their  own  Creator.  I  do  not  think  it  is  a  beautiful 
picture  at  all.  I  think  it  is  terrible;  and  I  think  any 
human  who  would  desire  to  have  such  a  monstrous  thing 
happen  then,  now,  or  at  any  time,  is  a  monster.  It  is  on 
a  par  with  the  ancient  Christian  custom  of  burning 
witches  at  the  stake.  And  I,  for  one,  am  not  proud  of 
Jesus  hanging  on  the  cross.  It  seems  a  terrible  thing  to 
me.  I  pity  him  from  the  depth  of  my  heart  and  I  hate 
and  abhor  the  devils  in  human  form  that  would  and  did 
commit  the  crime  of  nailing  Jesus  to  the  cross.  You  say 
it  was  "God's  plan?"  You  slander  God. 

It  seems  to  me  that  any  mortal  that  would  be  willing 
to  take  a  benefit  from  the  fact  of  Jesus  being  murdered 


98  IS  CHRISTIANITY  A  FAILURE? 

on  the  cross  is  supremely  selfish,  to  put  it  mildly.  I  had 
rather  be  lost  than  to  have  a  grand  and  good  man  mur- 
dered that  myself  and  others  could  be  saved.  The  idea 
is  hideous  and  repulsive  to  me.  I  hold  that  anyone  who 
will  wish  to  be  saved  through  the  murder  of  Jesus  must 
be  now  glad  that  Jesus  was  murdered.  And  a  person 
who  is  glad  Jesus  was  murdered  deserves  either  pity 
or  censure.  The  Roman  soldiers  took  a  benefit  they 
"divided  his  raiment."  I  cannot  see  where  we  of  today 
would  be  any  better,  should  we  take  a  benefit,  than  the 
Roman  soldiers,  if  we  accept  a  place  in  heaven  because  of, 
or  through  the  murder  of  Jesus.  I  believe  that  in  the 
sight  of  the  Almighty  we  would  be  just  as  contemptable 
as  the  Roman  soldiers.  I,  for  one,  cannot  accept  a  re- 
served seat  in  heaven  bought  with  the  blood  of  Jesus,  the 
murder  of  Jesus,  or  any  other  human.  I  could  not  live 
happy  in  heaven  stained  with  the  blood  of  any  one,  let 
alone  one  of  the  grandest  men  on  earth.  If  this  be 
religious  "treason,  make  the  most  of  it." 

We  are  too  credulous.  We  have  ,been  accepting 
without  question  too  long  what  our  leaders  have  been 
dealing  out  to  us.  What  they  have  been  telling  us  about 
religion,  about  economics  and  about  various  other  things. 
We  must  do  more  thinking  ourselves.  Especially  on 
religious  matters  as  religion  is  the  foundation  of  all 
human  affairs.  When  a  man  or  nation  goes  wrong,  blame 
his  or  its  religion.  It  will  be  because  religion  failed  to 
teach  what  was  right.  And  if  you  want  to  reform  a  man 
or  a  nation,  reform  his  or  its  religion,  and  everything 
else  will  be  easy. 

One  of  our  main  defects,  is  our  tendency  to  scorn 
anything  new  and  worship  anything  antique  or  ancient  in 
ideas.  If  I,  or  anyone  else,  should  tell  you,  that  I  had 
seen  God,  or  that  I  had  walked  and  talked  with  God,  or 
that  God  or  God's  angels,  had  given  me  commandments 
to  transmit  to  the  people  of  earth,  I,  or  anyone  else, 
making  such  statements,  would  be  discredited  by  all 
intelligent  thinking  people  of  our  time.  But  many  of 


IS  CHRISTIANITY  A  FAILURE?  99 

these  same  people  readily  believe,  as  exact  truth,  such 
things,  when  stated  in  writtings  of  ancient  times;  evid- 
ence that  would  not  be  allowed  in  any  court  in  the  land 
on  the  most  unimportant  case.  Why  is  this  so?  Simply 
because  we  have  grown  up  in  the  belief,  and  have  been 
taught  that  to  disbelive,  is  to  be  a  traitor  to  our  bringing 
up.  We  must  break  away  from  our  bringing  up,  and  do 
some  thinking,  if  we  want  universal  peace  on  earth.  - 

We  do  not  need  a  real  new  religion.  We  need  a 
new  interpretation  of  Christianity.  The  teachings  of 
Jesus,  relating  to  our  conduct  towards  our  fellowmen, 
are  not  silly,  they  are  not  weak  and  inpractical ;  they  are 
not  something  to  hear  on  Sunday  and  forget  on  Monday. 
They  are  the  essence  of  wisdom  and  justice,  and  we 
must  at  least  try  to  follow  them  if  we  are  to  better  our 
earthly  conditions. 

Jesus  taught  a  real  live  religion,  bringing  men 
together  and  connecting  them  with  their  Creator ;  not 
the  dead  thing  that  we  have  served  to  us  today,  teaching 
that  God  has  gone  from  earth.  Jesus  taught  human 
service.  In  Matthew  25-31  read  the  last  sermon  he 
preached  on  earth.  His  summary,  the  essence  of  all  his 
teachings.  What  he  tells  us  we  should  do.  See  if  you 
find  any  church  going,  Sunday  keeping,  long  praying, 
"chosen  people,"  "vicarious  atonement"  or  "fall  of  man" 
nonsense  in  it. 

When  you  Christians  are  up  for  judgment  in  the 
hereafter  you  will  not  be  asked  what  day  you  called  the 
Sabbath  or  whether  you  kept  any ;  you  will  not  be  asked 
what  church  you  belonged  to  or  whether  you  belonged  to 
any.  You  will  be  judged  according  as  you  ministered  to 
the  physical,  social  and  moral  necessities  of  mankind, 
without  your  asking  whether  or  not  they  believe  in  Jesus 
or  whether  or  not  they  belong  to  any  church. 

According  to  Matthew,  this  was  the  last  sermon 
Jesus  preached  on  earth,  the  summing  up  of  his  teachings. 
Now  if  this  is  not  true,  Matthew  to  say  the  least,  is 
mistaken  and  should  not  have  been  allowed  space  in  the 


100  IS  CHRISTIANITY  A  FAILURE? 

Bible.  If  this  is  true  there  is!  just  one  thing  for  us  to  do 
and  that  is  to  accept  it  at  once  and  start  to  putting  it 
into  practice.  Make  this  a  part  of  our  religion  and  then 
put  our  religion  to  work ;  make  politics  serve  our  religion. 
The  state  must  be  controlled  and  dominated  by  the  moral 
sense  of  the  community.  In  other  words  the  state  must 
have  a  conscience  and  a  heart  as  well  as  a  will  and  a 
mind.  The  best  governed  people  will  be  the  people  with 
a  high  moral  sense  and  who  use  that  high  moral,  or 
religious  sense,  in  running  governmental  affairs. 

Politics  should  be  made  the  servant  of  true  religion, 
for  politics,  the  governmental  relation  between  men, 
belongs  to  the  moral  or  practical  branch  of  religion  and 
should  be  considered  subordinate.  No  one,  but  a  truly 
religious  person,  should  be  allowed  to  hold  office  under 
our  government. 

What  I  mean  by  a  truly  religious  person,  is  one  who 
unselfishly  desires  to  help  .others.  One  might  be  a 
regular  attendant  at  church,  an  alms  giver,  repeat  long 
prayers  and  even  be  a  preacher  and  still  be  irreligious. 
The  truly  religious  person  looks  on  the  natural  Word 
of  God,  the  universe,  with  reverence,  awe,  admiration 
and  love  for  his  Creator ;  and  he  intensely  desires  to  make 
himself  worthy  the  blessings  bestowed  upon  him,  by 
aiding  others,  the  only  practical  way  to  show  his  appre- 
ciation for  the  blessings  of  life.  The  real  relgious  man 
does  not  try  to  humilate  or  deceive  himself  or  his  Creator 
by  asking  for  the  unreasonable.  The  practical  essence 
of  true  religion  is  the  Golden  Rule.  What  you  do  is 
what  counts,  not  what  you  "believe"  regarding  the 
miracles,  mysteries,  fables  and  fairy  tales  repeated  to  you 
by  those  who  know  no  more  about  them  than  you  do. 
"As  ye  did  unto  these,  the  least  of  your  brethren,  ye  did 
it  also  unto  me."  This  tells  you  what  is  expected  of 
you ;  your  duty  is  to  help  your  "brethren"  win  the  battle 
of  life.  For1  life  is  a  battle  from  the  time  we  struggle  to 
draw  our  first  breath  until  we  do  the  same  to  draw  our 
last.  A  battle  against  sickness  and  poverty,  against 


IS  CHRISTIANITY  A  FAILURE?  101 

temptation  and  sin,  for  what  conscience  tells  us  is  right. 
And  it  is  our  duty  to  make  this  battle  against  poverty 
as  light  as  possible  for  those  that  are  less  able  to  fight 
the  battle  than  we  are.  For  everything  we  eat,  wear  and 
much  that  we  enjoy  is  produced  or  acquired  by  human 
labor  and  by  human  labor  alone.  Capital  does  not  pro- 
duce anything,  it  paves  the  way  for  labor  and  is  deserv- 
ing of  its  reward,  and  every  normal,  healthy  individual 
should  be  compelled  to  produce  his  or  her  share  by 
either  manual  or  brain  work.  (Money  is  not  capital,  it 
merely  represents  capital,  as  a  deed  represents  land.) 
Everyone  disabled  should  be  tenderly  cared  for.  Under 
our  present  system  there  are  too  many  drones  that  must 
be  supported  by  the  workers,  this  is  the  fundamental 
reason  for  the  world's  unrest.  Our  unrest  is  not  so 
much  a  political  one,  it  is  economic. 

If  all  the  world  should  become  one  grand  democracy 
in  an  instant,  it  would  not  affect  our  world  unrest  in  the 
least;  strikes,  riots,  and  civil  wars  which  are  worse  than 
international  wars  would  continue.  Capital  is  not  wholly 
to  blame  neither  is  labor,  although  both  are  unreasonable 
at  times.  The  cause  is  deeper  seated.  Capital  and  labor 
both  suffer  at  the  hands  of  the  "drones"  who  draw  from 
both,  through  "interest  on  money"  and  otherwise. 

Abstractly  speaking,  it  is  our  system  that  education 
and  civilization  has  caused  us  to  outgrow.  The  average 
man  knows  in  a  hazy  manner  that  something  is  wrong, 
but  does  not  know  just  what  it  is.  Our  whole  economic 
system  must  be  changed  before  we  possibly  can  have  a 
just  and  permanent  peace  on  earth.  Monarchy,  true 
monarchy,  not  a  few  crowned  heads,  must  be  banished 
from  the  earth  by  the  Golden  Rule  in  the  hands  of  the 
earnest,  intelligent,  awakened,  common  people  of  earth. 

No,  it  is  not  going  to  happen  today  or  tomorrow  or 
next  day.  There  are  too  many  would-be  Kaisers  running 
our  affairs  to  allow  it  to  happen.  Too  many  selfish, 
irreligious,  ignorant  leaders  that  we  blindly  follow.  We 
are  going  to  continue  doing  just  as  we  have  done  in  the 


102  IS  CHRISTIANITY  A  FAILURE? 

past;  have  strikes,  riots  and  wars,  rest  awhile,  have  good 
times,  panics  and  hard  times  and  go  at  it  again  regardless 
of  what  the  League  of  Nations  or  the  Disarmament 
Conference  at  Washington  does ;  until  the  masses  become 
educated  enough  to  accept  true  religion  and  put  it  into 
practice. 

What  a  horrible  mess  we  humans  have  made  of 
earthly  matters  the  last  ten  years,  and  to  the  thinking 
person  the  future  is  not  very  promising.  The  League  of 
Nations  in  any  form  will  not  correct  our  troubles.  The 
cause  of  the  world's  unrest  is  injustice  that  the  League 
of  Nations  does  not  hint  at.  We  must  down  the  un- 
crowned Kaisers  who  have  an  insane  desire  to  rule  others, 
through  political  power,  religious  power  or  money  power, 
if  the  people  of  earth  are  to  be  free. 

What  we  need  on  earth  today  is  more  people  who 
think.  More  people  who  really  believe  in  bringing  about 
a  civilization  in  which  the  Golden  Rule  can  be  used. 
The  hardest  work  on  earth  is  real  thinking.  The  man 
or  woman  who  thinks  a  valuable,  original  thought,  once 
a  month  and  gives  the  world  the  benefit  of  it,  is  worth 
more  to  humanity  than  a  thousand  manual  laborers. 
Subtle,  spiritual  power,  thought  and  ideas,  is  back  of 
and  runs  our  physical  world,  and  in  proportion  to  the 
extent  that  a  human  puts  himself  en  rapport  with  the 
finer  forces  of  nature  he  becomes  of  value  to  the  physical 
world  and  rises  above  the  brute.  What  we  should  have 
on  earth  is  not  more  people  but  better  people.  Not  edu- 
cated human  parrots  but  educated  thinking  people.  I 
will  draw  an  illustration  that  may  cause  you  to  see  my 
point  in  regard  to  interest  on  money. 

Under  our  present  system  a  man  accumulates,  we 
will  say,  one  million  dollars.  For  the  sake  of  argument 
we  will  assume  that  he  got  it  honestly ;  that  he  produced 
for  society  that  many  dollars  worth  of  things  to  eat,  wear 
and  enjoy,  and  would  therefore  have  a  clear  right  to 
return  the  money  to  society  at  any  time  and  demand 
such  things  as  he  cared  for,  up  to  an  equal  value.  We 


IS  CHRISTIANITY  A  FAILURE?  103 

will  say  that  he  has  but  one  child,  a  son,  and  he  dies  the 
day  his  son  graduates  and  is  twenty-one  years  of  age. 
He  leaves  the  entire  million  dollars  to  him.  The  son 
takes  the  money  and  loans  it  out  at  five  per  cent,  interest, 
and  receives  fifty  thousand  dollars  per  year  which  he 
spends  on  himself  and  family.  The  son  does  this  for 
fifty  years,  then  dies,  still  having  the  million  dollars 
as  good  as  it  was  the  day  he  got  it.  He  never  did  any 
work  whatever  in  all  his  life;  had  many  people  serving 
him ;  had  the  best  of  everything  of  earth,  but  produced 
absolutely  nothing.  He  consumed  two  million  five  hun- 
dred thousand  dollars  worth  of  good  things  of  earth, 
produced  by  human  labor,  and  still  had  his  perfectly 
good  million  dollars  when  he  died. 

Do  you  see  anything  wrong  with  the  system  that 
allows  this? 

One  man  says:  "Well,  this  young  man  certainly 
did  a  lot  of  good,  circulating  fifty  thousand  dollars  a  year 
interest  money  among  his  neighbors,  besides  the  million 
principal.  It  was  good  for  his  neighbors  to  have  this 
money  circulating,  and  he  circulated  it.  He  made  bus- 
iness good.  All  the  interest  money  that  came  into  his 
possession  went  right  back  into  circulation.  Had  he 
hoarded  his  fifty  thousand  a  year  interest  money  he 
would  have  done  a  lot  of  damage." 

Now,  people,  this  is  an  old  and  favorite  song  of  the 
defender  of  the  "greatest  financial  system  on  earth." 
While  the  money  changer  puts  money  into  circulation 
he  certainly  takes  products,  utilities,  out  of  circulation. 
He  puts  a  few  dollars  into  circulation  with  a  string  tied 
to  them  so  he  can  pull  them  back  again  and  take  his 
pick  of  the  finest  autos  in  the  land  as  his  "interest"  on 
money,  and  in  due  time  gets  his  original  money  or  prin- 
cipal back  as  good  as  ever,  none  the  worse  for  wear, 
and  then  proceeds  to  pull  another  auto  or  something 
else  out  of  society's  storehouse  without  really  giving 
anything  in  return.  He  uses  money  as  the  bait,  while 
fishing  for  the  good  things  of  life  and  uses  the  same  bait 


104  IS  CHRISTIANITY  A  FAILURE? 

over  and  over  again  without  any  injury  to  the  bait. 
At  the  end  of  fifty  years  his  bait  is  as  good  as  it  was 
when  he  started  in. 

Of  course,  under  the  present  economic  system  it  is 
necessary  for  him  to  do  this  in  order  to  circulate  money, 
to  get  money  to  do  business  on,  but  this  cannot,  in 
reason,  be  used  as  an  argument  in  favor  of  our  present 
system  against  a  better  one,  Our  present  economic 
system  was  evolved  when  wooden  plows  were  in  use  or 
near  that  time  and  was  probably  the  thing  for  that 
age,  but  it  is  not  the  thing  for  our  time. 

We  will  admit  that  the  young  man  in  question  did 
some  good  in  placing  the  interest  money  back  in  cir- 
culation, but  see  what  he  gained  by  doing  it.  He  gained 
fifty  thousand  dollars  worth  of  autos,  fine  clothes,  the 
best  of  food,  attentive  services  of  others,  and  all  luxuries 
of  life  that  but  few  enjoy,  without  giving  anything  in 
return  -except  putting  ;money  into  circulation,  which 
would  not  be  much  of  a  virtue  under  a  correct  economic 
system,  as  the  government  should  and  would  do  this  at 
one  tenth  the  cost  to  business  as  at  present. 

To  make  my  idea  a  little  plainer,  we  will  say  that 
this  million  dollar  lad  lives  on  an  island  with  twenty 
thousand  neighbors,  and  his  million  dollars  is  all  the 
money  on  the  island.  Now  civilization  or  down-to-date 
civilization,  could  not  exist  on  this  island  without  a 
million  dollars  to  facilitate  the  exchange  of  utilities. 

You  will  be  able  to  see  that  this  young  man,  or 
money  changer,  did  not  actually  "circulate  fifty  thousand 
dollars  a  year"  as  stated  above  by  my  critic. 

He  merely  circulated  the  original  million  dollars  and 
drew  from  the  twenty  thousand  neighbors,  fifty  thou- 
sand dollars  worth  of  utilities  produced  by  his  neighbors 
as  yearly  rent  on  his  million  dollars.  He  did  not  circulate 
more  than  a  million  dollars  because  there  was  no  more 
than  just  one  million  dollars  on  the  island.  Interest  is 
never  paid  in  money,  it  is  always  paid  in  utilities.  It  is 
a  subtle  way  of  "acquiring"  the  good  things  of  life 


IS  CHRISTIANITY  A  FAILURE?  105 

without  working  for  them.  The  principal  is  paid  in 
money,  that  is,  the  money  borrowed,  is  returned. 

This  money  changer  "accomodated"  his  neighbors  by 
letting  them  use  his  money  and  in  return  his  neighbors 
supported  him  like  a  prince  for  the  "accomodation." 
Do  not  blame  the  young  man.  He  was  educated  to 
believe  it  proper.  But  his  education  was  wrong.  Edu- 
cation made  a  parasite  out  of  him  without  him  or  a 
majority  of  his  neighbors  realizing  it. 

Now  let  me  tell  you,  people,  Jesus  knew  a  lot  about 
business.  But  he  lived  in  a  time  that  it  was  dangerous  to 
speak  the  truth  and  be  caught  in  the  company  with 
Justice.  So  Jesus  was  compelled  to  cover  up  much  of  his 
best  thought  and  real  wisdom  with  the  bushel  basket  of 
fable  and  allegory,  in  order  to  live  as  long  as  he  did  live. 
Jesus  was  a  man,  not  a  god,  and  he  had  to  respect  the 
brutal  laws  and  customs  of  the  land  the  same  as  we 
must  outwardly  respect  brutal  and  unjust  laws  and 
customs  today. 

Now  the  sane  thing  for  these  twenty  thousand  island 
neighbors  to  do,  as  well  as  the  sane  thing  for  the  inhabi- 
tants of  this  island  earth  of  ours  to  do,  is  to  publicly  own 
and  control  the  necessary  money  to  transact  business 
with. 

How  can  it  be  done?  By  simply  doing  it.  How  do  we 
own  and  control  the  postal  system?  How  will  we  some 
day  own  and  control  our  railroads?  How  do  we  own 
and  control  our  wagon  and  auto  roads?  If  we  did  not 
own  and  control  them  how  would  we  go  about  it,  to  do 
it?  It  is  the  easiest  thing  in  the  world  to  gradually 
accomplish  governmental  ownership  and  control  of 
money  and  kill  hard  times  for  ever,  if  the  common  people 
will  just  wake  up  long  enough  to  elect  men  instructed  to 
bring  it  about.  Do  not  pay  any  attention  to  the  howling 
of  frenzied  finance  cayotes.  One  of  these  cunning  pests 
will  sound  like  a  whole  pack  of  wolves  when  he  gets  out 
in  the  desert  of  financial  mysticism  and  begins  to  warble 
to  you  fool  crows  sitting  on  a  limb  with  big  pieces  of 


106  IS  CHRISTIANITY  A  FAILURE? 

"interest"  cheese  in  your  mouths.  He  will  charm  a  lot  of 
you.  You  will  drop  the  pieces  of  "interest  on  money" 
cheese  into  the  money  changers  mouths  and  go  hungry 
listening  to  flattery  and  religious  and  economic  false- 
hood, while  your  charmers  grow  fat  and  prosperous. 
This  has  been  the  style  for  centuries.  If  "you  all"  like  it 
just  keep  it  up.  Do  not  let  me  disturb  or  interrupt  you 
in  the  least.  I  can  stand  it  if  you  can. 

Another  man  says :  "Now  look  here,  your  new 
fangled  economic  system  would  put  an  end  to  all  business 
transactions  where  the  men  who  engage  in  risky  tran- 
sactions cannot  put  up  good  security  when  borrowing 
money  to  transact  such  business.  For  instance :  If  a 
prospector  can  borrow  five  hundred  dollars  he  may  be 
able  to  go  out  and  find  a  mine  worth  five  million.  Under 
your  system  he  could  not  get  the  'money  from  the 
government  to  finance  his  doubtful  venture,  because  he 
has  no  security  to  pledge.  This  state  of  affairs  would 
put  a  stop  to  a  lot  of  business  that  should  not  be 
hindered." 

The  above  was  the  opinion  of  a  Los  Angeles  banker 
who  pretends  to  "know  a  thing  or  two"  about  finance. 
But  let  us  see : 

In  the  first  place,  a  correct  economic  system  under 
which  our  government  furnished  to  its  citizens  all  the 
money  they  needed  to  exchange  products  (without  inter- 
est, other  than  the  actual  cost  of  the  service),  real  neces- 
sary, legitimate  and  conservative  business  could  and 
would  flourish  without  paying  a  tribute  to  the  money 
changers.  In  an  economic  sense,  those  who  do  not  have 
products  to  exchange  are  unworthy,  and  should  not  ask 
or  expect  money.  The  worthy  can  pledge  products. 
They  should  have  something  to  exchange  first,  before 
giving  the  question  of  money  a  thought.  They  should 
offer  labor  of  brain  or  hands,  or  the  product  of  labor, 
in  trade,  or  as  security  for  the  labor  or  products  of  labor 
of  others,  before  they  have  a  moral  right  to  ask  or  expect 


IS  CHRISTIANITY  A  FAILURE?  107 

money,  which  should  simply  represent  utilities,  as  a  deed 
represents  land. 

Our  present  day  economic  thought  is  wrong.  We  do 
not  start  at  the  beginning.  When  we  want  anything,  our 
first  thought  is  where  we  can  get  the  money  to  make 
the  purchase,  regardless  of  whether  we  have  produced  its 
equivalent  or  not.  Our  children  should  be  taught  that 
they  have  no  moral  right  to  what  they  do  not  earn  unless 
it  is  a  free  gift  from  someone  else  and  that  free  gifts  are 
not  always  the  proper  thing,  as  they  have  a  tendency  to 
weaken  character  and  make  charity  hounds  out  of  what 
should  be  self  supporting  manly  and  womanly  men  and 
women.  A  healthy  young  man  or  woman  who  does  not 
earn  his  or  her  living  by  brain  work  or  manual  work,  is 
a  charity  hound. 

Now  coming  back  to  our  banker  friend's  objection. 
I  will  say,  that  for  the  life  of  me,  I  cannot  see  how  killing 
interest  on  money  and  establishing  a  correct  economic 
system  would  disturb  him  and  his  propector  friend  or 
client  in  the  least.  Furnishing  necessary  business  and 
trade  with  plenty  of  money  to  do  business  with,  would 
certainly  not  prevent  a  banker  or  anyone  else  for  that 
matter,  from  letting  all  the  money  he  had,  out  to  all  the 
prospectors  he  cared  to,  without  any  security  whatever 
and  charging  all  the  interest,  risk  money,  insurance  money, 
or  profit  the  prospector  or  wild  cat  business  man  is 
willing  to  pay  him.  I  do  not  think  this  would  be  the 
affairs  of  anyone  else.  They  could  do  the  same  under  a 
correct  economic  system  as  they  do  under  our  present 
system.  The  banker  would  be  privileged  to  loan  all  the 
money  he  cared  to  at  any  rate  of  interest  he  cared  to 
charge  and  could  get,  and  the  man  who  preferred  to  give 
the  banker  no  security  and  all  his  profits  would  be  privi- 
ledged  to  do  so.  While  the  business  men,  the  farmers, 
the  manufacturers  and  the  merchants  who  were  respon- 
sible, were  economically  worthy,  who  really  had  some- 
thing to  exchange,  could  get  all  the  money  they  needed 
to  exchange  utilities  with,  without  paying  any  interest 


108  IS  CHRISTIANITY  A  FAILURE? 

other  than  actual  cost  to  the  government  for  the  service 
rendered,  which  would  be  less  than  two  per  cent  instead 
of  six,  eight  and  ten  per  cent,  as  at  present. 

We  must  give  up  the  little  selfish  idea  of  getting 
something  for  nothing  and  similar  ideas.  This  is  the 
main  thing  to  do  first.  All  our  business  world  must,  in 
time,  be  carried  on  under  the  co-operative  plan,  which 
is  the  Golden  Rule  in  business,  instead  of  under  the  "Iron 
Rule,"  the  competitive  system  as  at  present  whose  motto 
is  "do  the  other  fellow  before  he  does  you,"  which  leads 
to  strikes,  riots  and  wars.  We  are  growing  towards 
better  conditions,  we  can  hasten  the  growth. 

Capital  and  labor  should  be  merged.  All  should  be 
laborers.  Whether  with  pick  and  shovel  or  pen  and  ink, 
whether  doing  the  actual  manual  labor  or  making  the 
plans  for  and  superintending  it. 

It  can  all  be  figured  out  satisfactorily  if  we  will  to 
do  it. 

Everbody  should  be  able  to  see  that  there  is  more 
injustice  and  misery  on  earth  than  there  should  be. 
There  is  a  cause  for  everything.  What  causes  so  much 
inharmony?  Is  it  necessary? 

I  think  most  of  it  is  unnecessary ;  that  it  is  caused  by 
ignorance  and  greed,  and  that  it  is  the  duty  of  everyone 
to  inquire  into  the  matter  and  do  what  they  can  to  help 
correct  matters. 

I  am  stating  what  I  think  is  the  cause  and  what  I 
think  is  the  cure.  If  you  think  different,  trot  out  your 
views  and  let  the  rest  of  us  look  them  over.  This  sort 
of  procedure  in  time  is  bound  to  accomplish  a  lot  of 
good.  Do  not  be  a  "molly  coddle"  and  stand  back  and 
criticize  what  I  recommend  without  recommending 
something  better. 


BLOOD  OF  JESUS 

We  must  get  rid  of  this  cannibalistic  idea  of  eating 
the  flesh  and  drinking  the  blood  of  Jesus  of  Nazareth. 
This  is  an  ancient  heathen  custom.  A  disgusting  horrible, 
pre-historic  custom,  coming  down  from  the  time  when  all 
men  actually  practiced  killing  each  other  as  they  kill 
and  eat  animals  today. 

There  is  no  Christian  today  who  would  actually, 
and  knowingly  eat  the  flesh  and  drink  the  blood  of 
another  human  unless  they  were  in  the  last  stages  of 
starvation.  Then  why  do  it  symbolically?  Why  act  like 
silly  children  and  play  eat  human  flesh  and  drink  human 
blood  ?  It  is  not  reason,  it  is  not  nice,  it  is  not  beautiful. 
It  is  horrible.  It  was  not  taught  by  Jesus  and  any  one 
who  says  that  Jesus  taught  -it,  slanders  him.  It  is  words 
put  into  the  mouth  of  Jesus  after  he  was  dead,  by  those 
who  had  a  selfish  interest  in  doing  so. 

Many  will  ask:  "why  do  you  make  such  a  fuss  over 
these  things,  the  private  beliefs  of  people?  What  harm 
can  they  do  you  or  others,  even  though  they  are  all  you 
say  they  are?  Are  you  trying  to  deprive  the  individual 
of  his  religious  freedom,  of  the  right  to  believe  as  he  likes 
and  do  as  he  likes,  so  long  as  it  does  not  injure  others? 
And  pray  how  can  it  injure  others  who  are  not  interested, 
when  such  symbolic  worship  goes  on  in  churches  whom 
no  one  needs  to  attend  unless  they  so  desire?  What 
has  this  or  similar  religious  beliefs  and  practices  got  to 
do  with  strikes,  riots,  wars,  poverty,  hard  times,  world 
unrest  and  such?" 

Now  just  listen  prayerfully  a  few?  moments  and  I 
will  show  you. 

In  the  first  place  let  us  remember  that  we  are  all 
people,  just  ordianry  plain  well  meaning  people.  You 
must  not  think  that  I  am  trying  to  put  anything  over 
on  you  and  I  will  take  it  for  granted  that  you  have  a 
reason,  are  willing  to  use  it,  and  that  neither  of  us  cares 


110  IS  CHRISTIANITY  A  FAILURE? 

for  anything  in  this  matter  but  real  truth  and  justice. 
That  I  am  not  arguing  just  to  get  ahead  of  you  in  an 
argument,  and  that  you  really  want  to  be  put  right  if 
you  are  on  the  wrong  road.  I  have  two  objects  in  view, 
one  is  to  clear  your  mind  of  rubbish  and  the  other  is  to 
clear  Jesus'  name  of  slander. 

In  the  first  place,  this  symbolic  practice  was 
invented  to  bolster  up  and  perpetuate  the  "vicarious 
atonement"  idea  and  the  vicarious  atonement  idea  was 
invented  to  bolster  up  the  "fall  of  man"  idea.  The  whole 
trouble  starts  with  the  "fall  of  man"  idea.  Once  admit 
that,  and  then  the  "redeemer"  idea  gains  a  foothold.  If 
there  had  been  no  "fall  of  man"  there  would  have  been 
no  need  of  a  "redeeemer,"  a  "Christ,"  and  there  would 
never  have  been  an  assertion  that  there  was  or  would  be 
one.  If  there  had  never  been  any  rain,  there  never  would 
have  been  any  waterproof  umbrellas.  But  as  rain*  makes 
the  invention  of  umbrellas  necessary  so  does  the  "fall  of 
man"  make  a  "redeemer"  necessary  in  the  minds  of  some 
people,  as  nobody  wants  to  be  lost.  To  the  average 
mind  it  would  seem  that  good  works,  not  good  beliefs 
would  be  a  better  plan.  It  would  be,  in  dealing  with 
earthly  affairs.  Why  is  it  not  in  dealing  with  heavenly 
affairs  ? 

But  the  men  who  make  a  living  out  of  their  religion 
will  all  say  with  one  voice:  "He  is  criticizing  God's 
plan,  who  is  he,  to  presume  to  place  his  judgment  against 
God's  judgment." 

Now  just  hold  on  a  niinute  Mr.  Preacher,  I  am  too 
humble  a  mortal  to  criticize  God's  plan,  or  to  even  pre- 
sume to  know  what  God's  plan  is,  if  it  is  not  "evolution," 
as  all  the  really  educated  men  of  today  tell  us.  Before 
anyone  can  rightfully  accuse  me  of  criticizing  God's  plan 
he  must  prove  what  God's  plan  is,  first. 

Where  do  the  preachers  get  this  "fall  of  man"  and 
"God's  plan"  from?  They  get  it  from  Genesis.  And  what 
is  Genesis?  Who  wrote  it?  Where  did  the  author  live? 


IS  CHRISTIANITY  A  FAILURE?  Ill 

What  idea  did  he  intend  to  convey?  What  was  he  up 
to?  Why  did  he  write  Genesis? 

No  living  mortal  can  positively  answer  any  of  these 
questions  and  prove  the  answers  to  be  true  by  evidence 
that  Would  be  accepted  in  any  court  in  our  land.  They 
must  use  hearsay  evidence,  men's  opinions  at  best, 
nothing*  more.  Let  me  ask:  taking  men  of  equal  intelli- 
gence, is  it  not  true,  that  the  man  who  does  not  make  a 
living  out  of  his  religion  is  as  able  to  judge  in  an 
unbiased  manner,  as  the  man  who  does  make  a  living  out 
of  his  religion?  Nine  tenths  of  the  criticism  against  me 
for  saying  what  I  do,  will  come  from  the  latter. 

This  is  what  I  think  about  the  Genesis  story.  I  may 
be  right  and  I  may  be  wrong.  If  any  one  can  prove,  by 
reasoning  and  there  is  no  other  way  to  prove  it  that  I 
know  of,  I  would  be  glad  to  hear  it.  Genesis  is  a  very 
ancient  poem  written  by  a  master  poet  of  his  day.  A 
deep  thinker,  a  man  with  a  heart,  and  Genesis  was 
evidently  a  masterpiece  in  this  poet's  time.  What  makes 
me  think  so?  Why  a  dozen  reasons;  one  is  the  way  it 
indulges  in  flights  of  imagination.  The  way  it  is  written, 
the  way  it  causes  our  thoughts  to  soar  when  we  read  it, 
even  at  this  distant  day  in  its  incomplete,  garbled  state. 
It  has  been  translated  many  times,  losing  some  of  its 
original  beauty  at  each  translation.  It  has  come  to  us 
from  ancient  times  in  a  battered  condition  as  an  old  and 
faded  garment  or  an  old  and  broken  piece  of  furniture 
handed  down  and  passed  along  from  the  dim  and  distant 
past.  This  ancient  poet  beheld  the  glory  of  the  universe 
and  being  somewhat  unlike  the  ox  at  the  manger,  whose 
only  thought  is  to  fill  his  stomach,  the  sight  of  the  won- 
derful things  this  poet  beheld  filled  him  with  awe  and 
admiration  for  the  great  Creator  of  it  all.  His  soul  was 
thrilled  and  he  tried  to  pass  some  of  that  thrill  on  to  his 
fellow  travelers  on  earth. 

When  he  gazed  upon  the  heavens  he  saw  nothing  but 
beauty  and  harmony.  When  his  vision  was  turned  earth- 
ward he  saw  beautiful  trees,  flowers,  fruits  and  grains 


112  IS  CHRISTIANITY  A  FAILURE? 

for  man  to  enjoy,  but,  when  he  gazed  at  man  he  saw 
mostly  discord,  inharmony,  selfishness,  greed,  and  jeal- 
ousy. He  saw  men  enslaving  men,  he  saw  men  brutally 
murdering  other  men  and  appropriating  their  belongings. 
He  saw  but  little  of  the  beautiful  and  harmonious  in 
man's  soul  and  he  was  at  a  loss  to  account  for  it.  It 
evidently  seemed  to  this  ancient  poet  that  there  was  no 
other  way  to  account  for  man's  depravity  other  than  the 
"fall  of  man"  and  his  wonderful  imagination  gave  us 
this  solution.  He  could  not  bare  to  think  that  an  all 
wise  loving  Creator  would  will  this  earth  to  be,  and  then 
straightway  fill  it  full  of  want  and  misery  to  last 
throughout  eternity.  To  him,  man  in  discord  seemed  to 
grow.  He  thought  that  God  surely  did  not  make  him  so. 
That  man  must  have  fallen,  no  other  way  to  cause  the 
horrors  he  beheld.  For  all  was  universal  harmony  ex- 
cepting man  alone.  Therefore  man  must  have  gone 
astray,  must  have  fallen  from  the  beautiful  harmonious 
image  that  alone  could  come  from  so  great  a  Being  as  the 
Creator  of  All. 

But  science  today  tells  us  that  man  never  fell.  That 
man  evolved.  That  he  is  higher  today  than  he  ever  was. 
That  he  has  been  climbing  for  hundreds  of  thousands  of 
years.  Science  teaches  the  rise  of  man  and  can  prove  it 
by  evidence  that  would  be  accepted  in  any  court  in  the 
land.  Now  there  is  just  one  thing  certain,  either  science 
and  our  courts  are  wrong  or  this  "fall  of  man"  theory  is 
wrong.  And  if  there  was  no  "fall  of  trian"  there  was  no 
need  of  a  "redeemer"  and  of  course  none  ever  came.  But 
how  about  Jesus,  wasn't  he  our  redeemer,  didn't  he 
claim  to  be  our  redeemer?  No,  a  decided  no  to  both 
questions.  These  words  were  put  into  his  mouth  after 
he  was  a  long  time  dead.  Priests  who  accepted  the  poetic 
"fall  of  man"  as  a  fact,  tried  to  save  man  from  the 
hole  the  ancient  poet  put  him  in,  by  inventing  the  "re- 
deemer" idea,  and  long  after  Jesus  of  Nazareth  was 
dead,  they  attached  this  "redeemer"  tag  to  Jesus.  This 
very  thing  is  what  has  handicapped  the  teachings  of 


IS  CHRISTIANITY  A  FAILURE?  113 

Jesus  throughout  the  centuries ;  educated,  intelligent  and 
thinking  people  will  not  stand  for  it.  This  was  a  slander, 
a  libel  against  the  name  of  Jesus,  and  must  be  cleared 
up  so  the  whole  world  can  intelligently  follow  Jesus 
or  rather  his  teachings  and  build  a  better  world. 

Now  to  answer  the  question  "what  has  all  this  to  do 
with  hard  times,  poverty,  wars,  etc?" 

Now  listen  again.  What  you  do,  depends  upon  what 
you  believe.  If  you  believe  you  cannot  wade  a  river 
you  will  not  try  it.  If  you  believe  a  thing  is  poison  you 
will  not  eat  it.  On  the  other  hand  if  you  believe  you  can 
wade  a  river  and  that  it  would  be  a  good  thing  for  you, 
we  know  about  what  you  would  do  the  first  chance  you 
got. 

Now,  if  you  believe  that  symbolically  eating  the  flesh 
and  drinking  the  blood  of  Jesus  is  going  to  save  your 
soul  and  secure  you  a  permanent  home  in  heaven ;  and 
you  believe  that  our  present  life  is  not  of  much  import- 
ance ;  that  you  will  soon  be  at  rest  in  the  bosom  of  Jesus 
in  the  happy  summer  land  of  eternity,  you  will  not  be 
a  very  active  worker  to  better  earthly  conditions,  correct 
hard  times,  lessen  poverty,  stop  wars,  etc.  Your  belief 
will  naturally,  powerfully  influence  your  actions  and 
you  will  settle  down  and  be  a  negative  upholder  of  these 
deplorable  earthly  conditions.  You  will  only  become  a 
good  active  citizen  working  hard  to  help  better  earthly 
conditions  as  your  belief  in  the  mythical  Jesus  and  his 
power  to  save  the  world,  lessens.  In  other  words,  the 
less  you  believe  that  Jesus  can  and  will  stretch  forth  his 
hand  and  save  the  world  the  more  you  will  try  to  help 
save  it,  and  the  less  you  will  sit  down  in  the  path  of 
progress  and  obstruct  the  business  of  evolution. 

For  instance  supposing  there  is  a  nation  of  just  ten 
persons.  Six  of  you  thoroughly  and  honestly  believe  that 
somehow,  sometime,  some  way,  Jesus  will  happen  along 
and  correct  everything  in  a  jiffy,  what  can  the  other 
four  of  us  do  to  correct  wrongs?  Only  one  way;  to  get 
the  majority  to  change  their  belief  and  quit  pinning  such 


114  IS  CHRISTIANITY  A  FAILURE? 

faith  to  a  mythical  Jesus  and  quit  living  mentally  and 
symbolically  off  of  the  flesh  and  blood  of  that  Jesus. 

Why  not  put  your  faith  in  the  teachings  of  a  red- 
blooded  manly  Jesus  who  lived  like  a  man  and  died  like 
a  man  and  who  left  behind  a  wonderful  manly  philo- 
sophy? It  is  the  fool  friends  of  Jesus  who  are  spilling 
the  beans.  They  are  the  ones  who  stand  in  the  way  of 
progress  and  they  do  not  know  it.  They  are  responsible 
for  wars,  bloodshed  and  disorder,  and  do  not  realize  it. 
They  refuse  to  spend  their  time  studying  the  causes  and 
cures  for  our  evils.  They  are  too  self-satisfied,  to  smug, 
too  selfish  and  too  lazy  to  think  for  humanity.  Their 
thoughts  are  all  on  a  mythical  Jesus  and  themselves. 
Wake  up,  people.  Get  your  old  dusty  Bibles  down  and 
go  to  studying  them.  Ask  these  questions  of  everyone 
you  meet :  why  do  we  have  wars  ?  why  do  we  have  hard 
times?  why  are  we  all  continually  fighting  instead  of 
helping  each  other?  There  is  only  one  answer  to  all  these 
questions.  Someone  is  trying  to  get  something  for 
nothing  or  rather  everybody  is  trying  to  get  something 
for  nothing  and  only  a  few  succeed.  All  wars  are  caused 
by  "business"  by  ambitious  men  whose  ambition  is 
wrongly  directed.  Nations  trying  to  get  ahead  of  each 
other  in  business  matters.  Trying  to  steal  a  slice  of  terri- 
tory, trying  to  get  better  business  deals  with  other 
nations  which  still  other  nations  object  to. 

Look  at  the  bickerings  at  Washington.  Nothing  but 
the  Golden  Rule  will  ever  stop  it.  And  the  Golden  Rule 
was  not  advocated  by  any  mythical  Jesus.  It  was  preach- 
ed by  a  real  full-blooded  rrtan  Jesus  and  it  is  the  one 
and  only  panacea  for  our  ills. 


GOD'S   PLAN 

The  Christian  story  of  Jesus  impresses  me  as  a 
garbled  fairy  tale  with  too  much  brutality  mixed  with  it 
to  make  anything  but  an  unsatisfying  impression  on  the 
mind  while  leaving  a  decidedly  bloody  horror  hovering 
around  the  soul. 

It  leaves  me  with  a  disgusting,  homesick  feeling  to 
see  brutality  and  crime  forever  triumphant;  to  see  inno- 
cence and  helplessness  always  wronged  and  tortured, 
while  brutes  kill  their  own  Creator;  their  God  too  weak 
and  silly  to  stay  their  bloody  hands.  It  reminds  me  of 
a  weak,  foolish  mother  allowing  a  spoiled  child  to  thrust 
a  dagger  into  her  heart  and  kill  her,  when  by  raising  her 
hand  she  could  prevent  it  for  the  best  interest  of  her 
child  as  well  as  her  own,  but  she  is  too  sentimentally 
weak  and  idiotic  to  do  it. 

Why  do  people  admire  such  a  godly  character? 
Disgust  and  pity  is  all  I  can  make  out  of  it.  I  have  absol- 
utely no  admiration  for  the  hideous  "fairy  tale." 

The  character  that  the  average  Christian  gives  to 
Jesus  is  a  weak  one,  whether  god  or  man.  Never  defend- 
ing himself  when  he  should  be  the  strongest.  Always 
disappointing,  always  walking  into  trouble,  torture  and 
death.  This  is  not  human  nature.  The  being  that  had 
this  nature  was  not  human,  neither  was  he  divine.  Gods 
do  not  allow  their  creatures  to  murder  them.  The  very 
name  "God"  means  "Master."  A  god  who  would  allow 
men  to  murder  him  is  certainly  a  "weak  sister"  as  far 
as  gods  are  concerned. 

How  much  more  womanly  it  would  be  for  the  mother, 
whose  six  year  old  son  tried  to  murder  her,  to  stop  the 
little  imp,  knock  him  over,  take  the  dagger  away  from 
him  and  send  him  to  bed  hungry.  We  can  admire  such 
a  mother,  but  we  have  only  disgust  for  the  mother  who 
would  allow  the  kid  to  murder  her. 

The  same  reasoning  will  apply  to  gods.    How  much 


116  IS  CHRISTIANITY  A  FAILURE? 

greater  impression  Jesus  could  have  made  on  earth  had 
he  defied  the  brutes  who  sought  to  kill  him,  by  just 
stopping  their  murder  party  as  they  were  all  ready  to 
see  some  blood  flow.  A  god  could  have  played  a  little 
godly  joke  on  Pilate,  the  priests,  the  soldiers  and  the 
multitude  of  brutes,  and  taught  humanity  in  general  not 
to  get  too  fresh  with  a  god. 

But  then  this  wouldn't  have  been  "God's  plan."  But 
prove  to  me  that  it  was  God's  plan,  before  you  accuse 
me  of  criticising  "God's  plan";  for  I  am  positively  not 
criticising  God's  plan.  I  am  merely  criticising  what 
deluded  Chrstians  say  is  God's  plan. 

Why  do  we  admire  Washington?  Why  do  we  admire 
Lincoln?  Why  do  we  admire  Roosevelt?  Simply  because 
they  did  not  do  as  Jesus  is  said  to  have  done  under  sim- 
ilar circumstances.  Washington  did  not  let  Benedict 
Arnold  betray  him  into  the  hands  of  the  British  and 
meekly  allow  himself  to  be  led  to  the  slaughtering 
grounds.  What  would  we  think  of  Washington  now, 
had  he  followed  the  actions  of  the  mythical  Jesus  and 
allowed  himself  to  be  killed  by  a  firing  squad  or  a  cross? 
Why  was  it  divine  for  Jesus,  a  god,  to  allow  himself 
to  be  murdered  by  brutal  Romans  and  brutal  Jews  and 
why  wouldn't  it  have  been  divine  for  Washington  to  have 
allowed  himself  to  be  murdered  by  the  brutal  British? 
Either  Washington  or  the  mythical  Jesus  was  wrong. 
It  is  my  judgment  that  the  mythical  Jesus  should  have 
acted  as  Washington  did  act,  refuse  to  be  murdered,  but 
live  as  long  as  he  could,  and  teach  and  lead  the  people 
all  he  could.  Had  Washington  done  the  same  as  the 
mythical  Jesus,  would  we  have  this  prosperous  America 
today?  Does  anyone  think  that  Washington  could  have 
done  good  for  humanity  by  falling  in  with,  and  helping 
to  further  a  plot  to  kill  himself?  No  one  but  a  weak- 
minded  man  or  silly  old  women  could  entertain  such  an 
idea.  If  Washington  had  been  in  the  place  of  the  myth- 
ical Jesus  he  would  have  faught.  So  would  Lincoln  and 
Roosevelt. 


IS  CHRISTIANITY  A  FAILURE?  117 

Who  do  we  admire  the  most,  the  hero  who  happens 
along  at  the  right  time  and  knocks  the  villains  gaily 
west  and  aids  innocence,  virtue  and  justice  to  triumph, 
or  the  weakling  who  lays  down  and  lets  the  villains 
triumph? 

Why  do  we  admire  the  character  of  the  mythical 
Jesus?  Simply  because  priests  have  warped  our  minds. 

Now  do  not  get  it  into  your  head  that  I  am  not  an 
admirer  of  the  real  Jesus  of  Nazareth.  I  think  he  was  a 
greater  man  than  Washington.  It  is  a  silly  man-made- 
god  Jesus  that  exists  only  in  the  minds  of  deluded 
Christians  that  I  am  ridiculing;  the  "saviour"  Jesus, 
the  "redeemer"  Jesus,  the  "Christ"  Jesus;  the  "god" 
Jesus,  the  Jesus  that  never  existed  other  than  in  the 
minds  of  unthinking,  silly  men  and  women,  put  there  by 
men  who  make  a  living  doing  it. 

We  should  drop  heathen  Christianity  with  its  "Christ 
and  cross"  man-made  god,  and  follow  the  God-made 
man,  Jesus  of  Nazareth.  We  should  turn  our  present 
churches  into  Humanitarian  churches  and  help  evolu- 
tion, Gods  plan. 

Preachers  should  quit  being  mental  jailers  and  reli- 
gious cops.  They  should  quit  trying  to  drive  and  coax 
people.  They  should  feed  the  healthy,  mental  food,  and 
give  them  a  chance  to  do  their  own  digesting.  They 
should  try  and  stir  their  minds  to  healthy  mental  action 
instead  of  forever  trying  to  pull  them  into  a  rut  and 
keep  them  there.  Preachers  should  study  and  teach 
economic  questions.  It  is  their  duty  to  take  an  intelli- 
gent interest  in  the  week-day  affairs  of  men  and  women. 
They  should  take  six  times  as  much  interest  in  the  ev- 
eryday, this  world  affairs,  as  they  do  in  Sunday,  or  next 
world  affairs,  because  there  are  six  times  as  many  week 
days. 


WHAT  I  KNOW  ABOUT  GODS 

Evolution  is  God's  plan.  Evolution  of  suns,  evolu- 
tion of  planets,  evolution  of  civilizations,  evolution  of 
religions,  evolution  of  races  of  men  and  evolution  of  man 
himself.  God  works  silently  and  constantly  whether 
working  to  develop  a  universe  or  working  to  develop  a 
tiny  seed  into  a  giant  tree,  a  microscopic  cell  or  germ 
into  a  man,  or  an  uncivilized  man  into  a  civilized  human 
being.  "The  mills  of  gods  grind  slow,  but  exceedingly 
fine  is  the  grist  thereof." 

Religions  are  born,  grow  for  a  time  then  decline  and 
pass  away.  Christianity  was  born,  grew  and  ruled  a 
good  part  of  our  earth  in  a  tyrannical  manner  for  a  few 
centuries  and  is  now  on  the  decline  and  within  a  century 
or  two  will  be  only  a  hideous  memory,  at  best. 

Man  needs  religions  and  governments  suitable  to  his 
particular  stage  of  development.  A  heaven  and  hell 
religion  is  perfectly  proper  for  a  heaven  and  hell  man, 
but  when  that  man  progresses  enough,  the  hell  part 
can  be  elimanted  and  just  the  heavenly  part  retained. 
You  can  scare  a  low  down,  uneducated,  bad  man  with 
hell,  but  you  can't  scare  a  highly  educated  moral  man 
with  any  such  bugaboo,  to  make  him  believe  your 
particular  brand  of  religion  or  anything  else.  The  in- 
telligent man  knows  that  he  is  a  living  record  of  just 
what  he  really  is.  He  knows  that  every  thought  he 
ever  entertained  and  every  act  he  ever  committed  is 
recorded  by  himself,  or  automatically  ;  upon  himself, 
where  he  himself  or  God  can  see  it  at  a  glance.  He 
knows  that  he  cannot  erase  one  thought  or  one  act 
That  he  is  just  what  he  has  made  himself,  and  is  making 
himself  daily,  and  that  he  can  change  for  the  better 
or  worse  just  as  he  pleases.  He  knows  that  it  is  no 
use  trying  to  fool  himself  or  his  Creator.  He  is  an  open 
book  in  his  own  hand  writing.  He  knows  that  he  can 
be  good  or  bad  as  he  pleases  and  he  knows  what  is 


IS  CHRISTIANITY  A  FAILURE?  119 

good  or  bad,  for  him.  He  knows  that  if  he  does  some- 
thing bad  he  is  sure  to  suffer  for  it  sometime,  somewhere 
and  somehow.  He  knows  it  is  cowardly  and  lazy  for  him 
to  ask,  expect  or  accept  anyone  else  to  suffer  for  his 
sins.  He  knows  that  Christianity  is  a  deceitful,  cowardly 
and  unjust  religion  to  try  and  bribe  mens  souls  into 
a  cruel  selfishness  that  would  profit  through  the  murder 
of  innocence ;  that  would  degrade  men's  souls  into  the 
horrible  crime  of  believing  that  innocent  blood  will  or 
could  wash  away  sin. 

Nothing  will  wash  away  sin  but  good  acts.  Nothing 
will  make  the  bad  man  good  except  he  turns  from  bad 
acts  to  good  acts.  The  instant  he  begins  to  write  a 
record  of  good  acts  in  his  book  of  life,  that  instant  he 
begins  to  save  himself.  And  if  he  continues  to  write  a 
record  of  nothing  but  good  thoughts  and  good  acts  in 
time  the  good  record  will  so  far  overbalance  his  former 
bad  record  that  the  bad  record  will  be  of  little  con- 
sequence. 

Each  man  judges  himself  and  is  his  own  redeemer. 
The  "redeemer"  part  of  Christianity  is  a  priestly  fraud 
and  has  disgraced  and  belittled  Christianity  before  an 
intelligent  world  and  is  the  cause  of  its  downfall.  Noth- 
ing saves  men  but  education,  knowledge,  and  science. 
Men  learn  by  experience.  Men  learn  by  committing 
sin.  They  suffer  the  consequences  of  sin  and  thus  learn 
virtue.  A  little  experience  is  sufficient  for  some,  but 
others  require  much.  No  one  will  ever  get  so  low  down 
that  he  cannot  rise  in  time,  and  no  one  gets  so  high  in 
this  world  but  what  he  can  rise  much  higher.  We  are 
good  to  a  certain  extent  and  we  are  all  bad  to  a  certain 
extent.  If  this  were  not  so  the  chances  are  that  none  of 
us  would  be  here  in  this  earthly  school  of  experience. 

It  seems  to  me  that  all  men  are  God  made  and  that 
all  God's  are  man  made.  For  whenever  a  man  tries  to 
conceive  of  God,  the  inconceivable,  he  simply  starts  in 
to  manufacture  a  God.  All  civilizations,  all  religions 
and  their  gods  are  man-made ;  simply  man's  idea  of 


120  IS  CHRISTIANITY  A  FAILURE? 

what  God,  the  unknown  and  unknowable,  insofar  as  mor- 
tal man  is  concerned,  is  or  should  be. 

They  usually  picture  God  as  a  magnified  man ;  some- 
times distorted,  sometimes  purified,  but  always  intensely 
human  but  rarely  humane,  with  his  ''chosen  people ;" 
His  friends  and  enemies;  His  likes  and  dislikes;  His 
powers  and  weaknesses,  and,  in  fact  with  every  attribute 
of  character  that  the  human  god  creators  have,  detest 
or  admire.  And  they  worship  through  fear  or  love  or 
the  impossible  mixture  of  both. 

The  Christian  god  is  no  exception  to  the  rule.  When- 
ever a  man  begins  to  talk  about  God,  His  Personality  or 
Anatomy,  he  begins  to  talk  about  something  which  he 
knows  absolutely  nothing  about,  and  whatever  he  may 
say  has  reference  only  to  man's  idea  of  God;  man's 
mental  image  of  God;  man's  little  home-made  god,  and 
not  the  great  Creator  of  all. 

The  only  way  we  mortals  have  of  knowing  anything 
whatever  of  the  real  God,  is  by  studying  His  works,  the 
only  great  Word  of  God. 

The  broader  and  more  enlightened  we  become  the 
less  we  try  to  jam  the  great  Creator  of  everything  into 
the  little  mental  image  of  God  that  mortals  are  ever- 
lastingly constructing. 

There  are  as  many  different  mortal  minds  as  there 
are  different  thumb  prints,  as  there  are  faces,  as  there 
are  men  and  women.  No  two  mortal  minds  are  exactly 
alike.  No  two  mortal  minds  can  see  things  exactly 
alike.  And  the  instant  one  mortal  begins  to  tell  another 
mortal  about  the  Personality  of  God,  that  instant  he 
begins  to  manufacture  a  god,  the  result  is  only  a  god 
model,  a  mental  or  a  stone  image,  a  picture  god  or  a 
shadow  god.  There  are  millions  of  heathen  gods  and 
there  are  millions  of  Christian  gods.  When  man  talks 
about  God,  tries  to  impart  to  another  some  information 
regarding  the  characteristics  and  attributes  of  God  he 
does  not  accomplish  what  he  starts  out  to  do  do,  he 


IS  CHRISTIANITY  A  FAILURE?  121 

merely  tells  his  idea  of  God.  It  is  absolutely  impossible 
to  tell  anything  about  God  Himself. 

Jesus  on  the  cross,  made  of  gold,  iron,  bronze  or 
stone,  is  just  as  much  an  idol  as  any  other  heathen  god, 
carved  in  stone  or  any  other  material.  All  man-made 
gods  are  heathen  gods.  Christianity's  man-made  god 
is  no  exception. 

\Yords  are  inventions  of  men.  Words  are  man  made. 
The  real  unknown  and  unknowable  God  certainly  does 
not  have  to  stoop  to  use  man  made  things.  He  cer- 
tainly must  be  above  using  the  methods  of  men.  If  this 
is  true  there  could  be  no  man-made-book,  V\'ord  of  God. 
Xow  this  is  about  all  I  know  about  gods.  If  you  just 
cannot  get  along  without  more  information  on  the  sub- 
jest,  ask  a  few  Christians.  They  are  usually  pretty 
accomodating  fellows ;  they'll  tell  you  all  they  know  and 
more  too,  especially  about  God. 

A  man  asked  quite  a  favor  of  me  once  I  granted  it. 
He  said:  "are  you  a  Christian?"  I  said,  what  do  you 
mean  by  the  word  Christian.  He  said :  one  who  believes 
that  Jesus  was  half-god  and  half-man."  I  said,  I  do  not 
believe  in  half-breeds  on  general  principles  and  cannot 
make  an  exception  of  a  mythical  "Christ."  He  was  in- 
sulted. I  was  disgusted.  He  left  me  without  thanking 
me  for  a  great  favor  I  had  granted  him.  I  thought  to 
myself,  if  that  fellow  is  a  true  Christian,  I  am  glad  I 
don't  have  to  be  a  Christian. 

Another  time  a  preacher  called  on  me  to  convert  me. 
It  was  early  in  the  month  of  May.  I  had  some  very 
early  fruit  ripening  and  gave  him  a  bag  full  to  take 
home  to  his  wife  and  little  girl;  I  had  but  little  of  this 
fruit  and  divided  with  him  and  his  family.  He  stayed 
a  couple  of  hours  trying  to  bring  me  to  his  god,  the 
mythical  "Christ,"  and  during  this  time  he  ate  up  all  the 
fruit  that  I  had  given  him  for  his  wife  and  child;  he 
and  I  had  eaten  some  from  the  tree.  I  did  not  become 
converted.  His  actions  spoke  louder  to  me  than  his 
words.  He  was  thoughtless  and  selfish. 


THOUGHT  MICROBES 

The  world  is  diseased.  It  is  "thought"  microbes 
that  causes  the  disease.  We  must  get  after  those 
microbes.  Kill  thought  microbes  and  the  world  will  get 
well.  But  in  pursuing  those  microbes  to  their  lair  we 
must  necessarily  follow  them  to  their  old  musty  caves 
of  thought  in  our  "greatest  book  on  earth,"  for  in  this 
ancient  unused  book  many  of  these  pesky  thought 
microbes  are  strongly  intrenched  and  their  well  meaning 
but  misguided  human  friends  will  fight  like  enraged 
female  tigers  for  their  pet  mental  microbes,  their  adopted 
thought  children.  But  "what  is  a  fellow  going  to  do"  un- 
der the  circumstances,  beat  his  brains  out  against  a  stone 
wall  of  ignorance  and  superstition?  If  a  person  succeeds 
in  doing  anything  worth  while  in  killing  these  ancient 
mental  disease  microbes  his  reward  will  be  an  avalanch 
of  unreasoning  abuse  from  the  unthinking  adopted  papa's 
and  mama's  of  these  criminal,  mental  microbes.  But 
then  let  us  remember  what  Jesus  went  through  and 
proceed  to  our  duty.  What  we  may  go  though  is  nothing 
in  comparison. 

"Thou  shalt  not  suffer  a  witch  to  live"  is  a  hideous 
mental  microbe  that  gave  millions  of  ancient  Christians, 
hydrophobia  and  caused  them  to  burn  at  the  stake  and 
tear  to  pieces  the  living,  quivering  bodies  of  thousands 
of  their  brothers  and  sisters.  Was  this  nice?  Was  it 
a  nice  mental  microbe  that  caused  these  horrible  mur- 
ders? Does  anyone  of  today  uphold  this  demoniacal 
mental  microbe.  Does  any  papa's  or  mama's  of  today 
want  this  mental  microbe  for  their  darling  pet  microbe? 
This  mental  microbe  has  his  home  in  the  "greatest  book 
on  earth"  and  has  caused  rivers  of  human  blood  and 
tears  to  flow,  in  by  gone  days.  Exodus  22-18.  Do  you 
admit  that  there  is  just  one  bad  mental  microbe  en- 
trenched in  our  Bible?  Now  understand  the  question  and 
consider  your  answer,  because  which  ever  way  you 


IS  CHRISTIANITY  A  FAILURE?  123 

answer  you  are  condemning  the  "greatest  book  on 
earth,"  the  foundation  of  your  religion.  If  you  answer 
that  it  is  a  bad  mental  microbe  you  must  then  stop  with 
me  long  enough  to  explain  what  this  bad  mental  microbe 
is  doing  in  the  "Word  of  God,"  "the  greatest  book  on 
earth,"  the  book  that  when  opening,  you  always  close 
your  reason.  If  you  admit  there  is  just  one  error  in  a 
perfect  book  you  have  cast  doubt  and  suspicion  over 
it  all.  Remember  it  will  be  you,  doing  it,  not  me.  There 
may  be  other  dangerous  mental  microbes  hidden  therein. 
The  fact  is  there  are,  others,  many,  many  others,  that 
causes  million  to  suffer  and  mourn,  but  if  one  is  not 
sufficient  to  illustrate  my  point  a  thousand  would  not 
be. 

Now  if  you  answer  that  "Thou  shalt  not  suffer  a 
witch  to  live"  is  good  logic,  good  moral  teaching,  you 
approve  of  mutilation,  maiming  and  tearing  to  pieces 
and  burning  of  the  living  bodies  of  untold  thousands  of 
innocent  humans.  If  it  is  not  good  doctrine,  what  is  it 
doing  in  the  "Word  of  God?  Take  your  choice. 

The  fact  is  the  "greatest  book  on  earth"  lies  square 
across  our  path  of  progress  seroiusly  obstructing  if  not 
actually  halting  God's  great  plan  of  evolution  of  our  race 
and  it  must  be  moved  from  that  path  before  any  real 
peace  on  earth  will  come. 

Let  me  tell  you  what  I  think  about  the  Bible,  it  need 
not  affect  what  you  think  about  it,  but  it  will  serve  to 
help  make  my  thought  clear  to  you.  You  can  investigate 
and  prove  to  yourself  whether  I  speak  truth  or  false- 
hood. 

The  Bible  is  a  man-made  book.  It  was  written  by  men, 
those  writings  were  collected  by  men,  translated  by  men 
and  published  by  men.  It  is  distributed  by  men  and 
interpreted  by  men.  It  contains  much  truth,  much  error, 
much  good  and  beautiful  and  much  bad,  obsene  and 
filthy  thoughts  and  sayings ;  much  philosophy,  much 
that  is  fairy  tales  and  dreams,  much  that  is  practical  and 
much  that  is  not  practical  in  our  day,  It  contains  much 


124  IS  CHRISTIANITY  A  FAILURE? 

that  was  evidently  beautiful  and  inspiring  poetry  in  the 
original  manuscript,  but  a  good  part  of  which  has  been 
lost  on  translation.  It  contains  much  that  is  simple 
legend.  In  other  words  the  Bible  is  not  a  book,  a  single 
book,  it  is  fragmentary  literature  gathered  together  in 
one  great  book.  It  is  not  the  Word  of  God,  it  is  the 
words  of  men  and  some  of  those  men  were  saints,  while 
others  were  low  degraded  moral  outcasts,  too  filthy  to 
hold  a  place  in  a  modern  respectable  dime  novel,  with 
many  passages  too  vulgar  and  obsene  for  a  decent  man 
to  say  to  a  decent  woman.  If  the  "greatest  book  on 
earth"  were  put  in  our  schools  and  the  teachers  were 
compelled  to  read  it  through  from  beginning  to  end  and 
explain  the  meaning  of  every  word,  sentence  and  para- 
graph, a  majority  of  our  school  teachers  who  belong  to 
Christian  churches  would  resign  rather  than  do  it.  There 
is  not  one  person  in  a  thousand  that  knows  and  realizes 
all  that  is  in  the  Bible. 

When  the  Bible  says  in  chapter  31  of  Numbers,  that 
God  approved  of  Moses  who  commanded  thirty  two 
thousand  young  innocent  girls  to  be  turned  over  to  his 
brutal  soldiers  to  do  with  them  as  they  pleased,  and  use 
them  as  "white  slaves,"  I  say,  at  least,  that  such  portion 
of  the  Bible  is  not  the  "Word  of  God."  If  this  is 
criticising  the  Bible  I  plead  guilty  and  will  suffer  the 
penalty  manfully,  whatever  it  may  be,  and  will  not  ask 
a  neighbor  or  a  saviour  to  suffer  "vicariously"  for  me. 
There  are  hundreds  of  instances  of  degredation,  dis- 
honesty and  brutality  being  taught  by  our  Bible.  Taking 
the  Bible  for  it,  war  is  a  virtue,  human  blood  spilling 
laudable,  stealing  a  virtue,  white  slavery  a  great,  grand 
thing,  especially  when  practiced  by  "Gods  Chosen 
People"  against  their  enemies.  According  to  the  Bible 
didn't  God  plan,  and  direct  wars?  If  this  is  the  case 
why  are  we  foolishly  trying  to  do  away  with  wars? 
Wars  must  be  good  if  God  approves  of  them.  Oh,  says 
one,  God  approved  of  wars  in  the  Old  Testament.  In  the 
New  Testament  that  same  God  does  not  approve  of 


IS  CHRISTIANITY  A  FAILURE?  125 

them.  Oh  horrors !  As  if  the  great  Creator  was  a  weak 
little  human  to  be  changing  his  mind  every  few  centuries 
or  rather  every  few  minutes,  as  centuries  are  only 
minutes  to  a  God.  If  this  is  the  case  we  better  look  out, 
He  may  change  his  mind  again  and  upset  all  our  plans. 
Xo  telling  what  God  may  do.  He  may  take  a  notion  to 
make  the  sun  shine  at  night  instead  of  in  the  day  time, 
then  the  moon  would  be  out  of  a  job  and  there  would  be 
no  more  love  making  by  moonlight;  for  we  must  all 
admit  that  nothing  is  impossible  with  God.  "God  works 
in  mysterious  ways  these  wonders  to  perform."  I  really 
believe  this  myself.  I  believe  that  God  could  accom- 
plish the  impossible  if  he  wanted  to.  I  believe  he  could 
really  cause  Christians  to  think  intelligently  on  matters 
pertaining  to  religion  and  the  "greatest  book  on  earth," 
if  he  cared  to  do  so.  Now  let  us  hope  and  pray  that  He 
will  do  this.  But  He  will  first  necessarily  have  to  silence 
?,  few  selfish  uneducated  "cheeky"  people  who  make  a 
living  out  of  their  religion,  because,  if  He  does  not  they 
will  make  so  much  noise  that  no  one  will  be  able  to 
hear  ones  self  think.  Just  pull  a  hungry  sucking  calf 
away  from  his  dinner  if  you  want  to  hear  some  bawling. 

Xo\v  I  do  not  wish  to  give  out  the  impresion  that 
all  men  who  make  a  living  out  of  their  religion  are  any 
worse  or  much  different  than  us  people  who  do  not  make 
a  living  out  of  religion.  Many  of  them  are  victims  of 
circumstances  over  which  they  had  no  control  or  thought 
they  had  no  control.  They  have  been  placed  there  by 
others.  These  circumstances  have  been  woven  around 
them  and  it  is  a  strong  man  indeed  who  can  rise  above 
his  surroundings  and  see  clear,  think  straight  and  act 
correct  regardless  of  these  conditions. 

To  begin  with  let  us  take  the  case  of  one  young  man 
to  represent  the  class. 

There  is  the  Bill  Grimes  people;  a  fine  upright 
Christian  family.  They  have  education,  refinement  and 
some  money.  Mrs.  Grimes  is  a  relf-sacrificing  intelligent, 
loving  wife  and  mother  who  attends  church  regularly, 


126  IS  CHRISTIANITY  A  FAILURE? 

causes  all  the  children  to  do  the  same  and  scolds  Bill 
because  he  does  not  go  to  church.  Bill  goes  whenever 
he  can't  get  out  of  it,  to  please  the  "missus"  and  keep 
peace  in  the  family.  His  wife  gets  inspiration  and 
consolation  out  of  hearing  the  beautiful  story  of  Jesus 
related  over  and  over,  the  same  as  one  does  from  singing 
or  hearing  a  beautiful  song  over  and  over.  The  church 
music,  the  well  dressed  people,  the  air  of  refinement  and 
the  sympathetic  mental  atmosphere  of  the  church,  are 
as  necessary  to  Mrs  Grimes  and  her  spiritual  nature  as 
water  is  for  a  fish  to  swim  in,  or  as  Bill's  pipe  is  to  him. 
Bill  is  a  man,  a  red-blooded  man ;  he  can't  stand  as  much 
sentiment;  just  a  little  bit,  not  too  much,  and  Bill's 
spiritual  nature  is  satisfied ;  enough  is  enough,  alike  a 
good  meal,  kissing  or  anything  else ;  fine  until  you've 
got  enough.  Mrs.  Grimes  never  gets  too  much  of  church 
influence  and  therefore  she  naturally  thinks  it  is  the 
greatest  thing  on  earth,  just  the  thing  for  young  Bill  who 
is  somewhat  delicate.  Mrs.  Grimes  thinks  it  would  be 
just  grand  to  have  young  Bill  study  for  the  ministry. 
Young  Bill  hasn't  been  thoroughly  halter  broke  and  is 
somewhat  hard  to  lead.  Old  Bill  hasn't  much  to  say. 
While  he  had  rather  see  young  Bill  get  out  in  the  world 
and  take  a  more  strenuous  part  in  lifes  activities  he  is 
discreet;  doesn't  offer  much  resistance  to  the  preacher- 
fying  plan  of  Mrs.  Grimes ;  as  old  Bill  has  been  married 
some  time  and  knows  a  thing  or  two  about  the  persis- 
tence of  women. 

Well,  young  Bill  enters  college,  takes  all  that  is 
handed  him  as  absolute  truth,  graduates,  comes  home, 
gets  married,  secures  a  job  leading  men  and  women 
twice  and  three  times  his  age,  and  settles  down  to 
"making  a  living  out  of  his  religion."  Now  don't  blame 
young  Bill  too  much  for  what  he  does.  Up  to  the  time 
he  has  settled  down  permanently  in  life  he  has  not  been 
taught  to, yea,  not  even  been  allowed  to  think  for  himself, 
unless  he  did  it  with  the  guilty  conscience  of  a  chicken 
thief.  He  has  been  raised  on  canned  thought, 


IS  CHRISTIANITY  A  FAILURE?  127 

dried  thought,  mummified  thought,  dusty  thought, 
thoughtless  thought,  dead  thought,  Bible  thought.  He 
has  been  led  to  believe  that  one  should  not  think  for 
ones  self  on  religious  matters,  that  it  is  one  of  the  worst 
of  crimes,  and  he  has  obeyed  implicitly.  After  a  bit, 
things  happen  in  the  due  course  of  his  preaching  life 
that  causes  Bill  to  think,  really  and  truly  think  deeply, 
on  religious  matters,  and  such  thought  causes  him  to 
doubt  much  that  was  formerly  taught  him  and  which 
he  parrot  like,  repeated  to  others.  But  it  is  too  late 
now ;  he  cannot  turn  back.  Bill  looks  at  the  error  he  has 
been  spreading  along  with  some  truth,  he  sees  some 
physical  as  well  as  mental  good  that  he  has  done  and 
much  mental  harm.  He  then  glances  at  a  loving  wife 
and  several  small  Bill's  looking  to  him  for  food,  clothing, 
education,  care  and  protection,  and  Bill  says  to  himself : 
no  I  cannot  turn  back,  I  must  go  straight  ahead  and  be 
somewhat  of  a  hypocrite.  The  preaching  business  is  the 
only  business  I  know.  I  had  rather  do  this  than  to  see 
my  loved  ones  suffer,  I  can  make  a  living  at  nothing  else 
and  if  I  dared  to  tell  the  truth  as  I  see  it,  I  would  be 
kicked  out  of  the  church.  I  hope  and  pray  that  the  end, 
the  good  I  wish  to  accomplish,  will  justify  the  means, 
as  well  as  the  error  and  untruth  I  am  scattering  while 
doing  some  good. 

Now  I  say,  God  pity  the  Bill  Grimes'  of  earth,  I  do 
from  the  bottom  of  my  heart  and  pledge  myself  to  do 
all  I  can  to  help  bring  about  a  state  of  society  where 
they  can  pursue  and  tell  the  truth  as  they  see  it,  and 
make  a  better  living  for  themselves  and  their  lovely 
families,  out  of  the  occupation,  than  they  do  today,  while 
scattering  error.  Preachers,  or  "teachers"  rather,  are  not 
going  out  of  style.  We  need  twice  as  many  as  we  have 
today,  but  of  a  better  and  higher  grade  of  intelligence 
and  education. 

I  am  after  the  scalp  of  no  individual  or  set  of  indi- 
viduals. It  is  the  false  system  of  religion,  business  and 
government  that  I  wish  to  change,  not  "tear  down ;"  but 


128  IS  CHRISTIANITY  A  FAILURE? 

gradually  and  tenderly  "repair"  and  "reform"  without 
shocking  any  individual  or  actually  harming  any  one,  or 
many  men.  Come  fellows  help  do  it,  do  your  bit  and  we 
will  have  a  better  world  before  you  realize  it.  Look 
yourself  over,  look  your  government  over,  and  then  do 
your  duty  as  you  see  it.  "Try  all  things  and  hold  fast 
that  which  is  good,"  simply  because  you  intelligently 
believe  it  to  be  good,  not  because  any  one  else  believes 
it  to  be  good.  Base  your  belief  on  the  result  of  your  own 
real  hard  thought  even  as  you  base  your  business  trans- 
actions on  your  previous  mathematical  thought  before 
you  act.  The  average  man  usually  "figures  it  out"  him- 
self, before  he  acts  in  business  affairs,  he  rarely  acts  on 
some  one  elses  "belief."  Follow  this  in  religious  and 
governmental  matters.  Get  away  from  the  thought: 
"what  was  good  enough  for  my  dear  Mother,  or  my  dear 
Father  is  good  enough  for  me.  If  all  of  us  thought  this, 
there  would  be  no  progress.  We  would  still  be  using 
sticks  for  plows  and  stones  for  knives.  Go  up  to  a  higher 
level  of  thought,  the  mental  "water  is  fine."  The  fault  is 
not  so  much  with  the  Bible  as  it  is  with  "you  fellows," 
who  listen  to  weak  minded  silly  "sissy"  men  \vho  sing 
their  little  song  of  words  for  the  "eats"  they  get  out 
of  it.  The  fault  is  not  with  the  Bible  as  much  as  it  is 
with  the  "interpretation"  of  the  Bible.  Men  and  women 
interpret  it  who  do  not  understand  it  themselves  and  then 
spread  their  misinterpretation  among  unthinking  people 
who  are  too  busy  with  their  noses  to  the  grindstone  of 
everyday  life,  trying  to  make  a  living  for  those  depending 
on  them,  in  an  economic  system  that  the  biggest  sinner 
against  the  teachings  of  Jesus,  the  man  we  all  profess  to 
follow,  gets  away  with  the  most  "swag." 

The  Bible  is  certainly  a  wonderful  book.  A  saint  can 
draw  from  it  inspiration  for  a  higher  and  grander  life, 
while  a  hardened  criminal  can  learn  new  tricks  to  aid  him 
in  swindling  people,  from  the  same  book. 

The  next  time  you  read  the  Bible  do  not  take  a  won- 
derful poem  that  has  been  butchered  by  many  transla- 


IS  CHRISTIANITY  A  FAILURE?  129 

tions  and  interpretations  as  well  as  additions  and  omis- 
sions by  former  designing  priests,  and  try  to  get  good 
literal  sense  out  of  it.  Such  idiocy  has  cost  the  world 
many  a  brave  soul,  many  a  noble  person  had  his  tongue 
torn  out,  his  eyes  gouged  out  and  then  burned  alive  at 
the  stake  simply  because  he  dared  to  think  and  speak 
rationally  regarding  the  poems,  fairy  tales,  dreams,  myths* 
legends  and  prophecies  in  the  Bible.  The  fault  I  say  is 
not  so  much  with  the  Bible  as  it  is  with  its  would  be  in- 
terpreters, who  act  as  ponderous  and  silly  as  did 
foreigners  over  some  of  Mark  Twain's  jokes. 

Ask  Christians  why  intellect  slipped  backward  during 
the  dark  ages  when  Christianity  was  all  powerful. 

They  will  answer:  "Because  the  barbarians  from  the 
north  overran  civilization  and  stamped  out  knowledge." 

Let  me  ask:  Did  barbarians  from  the  north  say  the 
world  is  only  six;  thousand  years  old  and  is  flat  and  the 
sun  travels  around  it,  and  is  inferior  to  it?  Or  did 
Christians  say  this  and  burn  people  at  the  stake  who 
refused  to  believe  it? 

Did  barbarians  from  the  north  condemn  the  telescope 
as  an  invention  of  the  Devil  and  m'ake  Gallileo  apologize 
to  the  Christian  church  for  saying  that  our  earth  is 
round  and  revolves  on  its  axes  ?  Who  slandered  the  name 
of  Copernicus  the  father  of  astronomy  and  burned  Bruno 
at  the  stake  for  saying  the  world  is  round  and  proving 
the  Old  Testament  to  contain  mistakes  in  astronomy, 
geography  and  morality?  Was  it  the  barbarians  from 
the  north  or  Christians  that  discourage  a  search  after 
truth  and  knowledge? 

Did  barbarians  from  the  north  start  bloody  wars 
between  Christian  sects  and  cause  them  to  murder  each 
other  because  of  and  in  the  name  of  mythical  "Christ." 

That's  right  Christians,  lay  the  blame  on  "barba- 
rians," the  "Devil"  or  any  other  scapegoat,  while  you 
pile  your  sins  on  the  back  of  the  "Christ."  Always  re- 
fusing to  stand  up  like  men  and  women  and  suffer  for 
your  own  sins  and  mistakes. 


HELPLESS  HUMANS 

How  helpless  we  are  when  we  first  come  into  this 
world,  more  helpless  than  a  rabbit  or  a  kitten.  And  how 
rediculous  we  look;  no  better  than  a  slab  of  beefsteak. 
But  after  we  are  bathed,  fed,  dolled  up  and  doctored  up 
and  waited  on  incessantly  for  a  few  weeks  we  begin  to 
show  signs  of  beings  somebody.  But  think  of  the  years 
we  are  helpless  and  think  of  the  trouble  we  cause  until 
we  are  able  to  navigate  the  sea  of  life  alone ;  if  that  time 
ever  really  does  come  in  civilized  life,  and  then  just 
notice  the  importance  some  of  us  assume  even  while  we 
are  so  thoroughly  dependent  on  others  for  the  necessi- 
ties of  life  as  well  as  life  itself.  How  we  ride  rough  shod 
over  our  own  kind  as  well  as  over  helpless  lower  animals. 
We  immediately  assume  an  importance  that  a  God  should 
be  timid  about  assuming.  We  take  it  for  granted  that 
all  the  lower  animals  were  put  here  for  is  for  us  to 
butcher  and  devour.  In  former  ages  we  assumed  the 
same  regarding  each  other.  We  seem  certain,  that  all 
other  races  of  people;  are  on  earth  for,  is  just  to  be  our 
slaves,  that  all  the  unfortunate  of  our  own  race  is  here 
for,  is  to  be  our  servants.  This  is  the  common  heart 
attitude  of  the  average  Christian  man. 

But  just  let  some  little  thing  out  of  the  ordinary,  be- 
fall some  of  us  big,  strong  men ;  a  sprained  ankle,  a  tap 
on  the  head,  a  pain  in  the  liver,  or  some  trivial  accident 
and  how  quick  we  are  helpless,  down  floundering  in  the 
dust,  needing  help  and  pathetically  looking  for  it  from 
those  whom  a  few  moments  before  we  were  lording  it 
over  in  a  haughty  manner;  now  pleading  for  sympathy 
and  tender  care  that  we  probably  do  not  deserve;  ex- 
pecting to  be  carried  home  and  tucked  away  in  a  nice 
bed  and  be  waited  on  like  an  infant.  And  finally  death 
comes  and  takes  us  where?  Oh  why  didn't  we  be  more 
humble,  more  humane,  more  patient,  more  noble  like 
Jesus,  while  we  had  a  chance?  But  we  or  he  or  she,  did 


IS  CHRISTIANITY  A  FAILURE?  131 

not,  and  it  is  too  late  now.  The  great  tomorrow  has 
come,  and  we  have  gone  where  we  will  not  do  any  more 
lording  it  over  those  that  circumstances  placed  in  our 
temporary  power ;  but  others,  probably  greater  tyrants, 
take  our  places  and  the  mad  game  of  earthly  life  goes 
merrily  on. 

But  let  us  see,  who  are  we  anyway?  We  were  cer- 
tainly created.  We  are  here  aren't  we?  Are  we  not  a 
living  proof  that  we  were  created?  We  certainly  didn't 
"jes  grow."  If  it  is  admitted  that  we  were  "created," 
there  must  be  a  Creator  somewhere ;  and  if  that  is  the 
case  we  must  belong  to  our  Creator  instead  of  belonging 
to  ourselves  or  to  each  other.  If  we  have  a  Creator  and 
belong  to  a  Creator  we  certainly  owe  something  to  that 
Creator.  That  Creator  must  certainly  have  had  a  pur- 
pose in  view  when  he  created  us.  If  we  have  a  Creator 
it  is  our  duty  to  serve  Him  instead  of  serving  our  selfish 
selves.  We  are  evidently  here  to  help  our  Creator  and 
not  to  hinder  Him.  He  evidntly  is  working  out  some 
plan  and  we  may  play  a  vital  part  in  it.  Now  it  seems 
to  me  that  our  duty  is  to  try  and  get  en  rapport  with  our 
Creator  and  help  Him  all  we  can. 

We  do  not  know  where  we  came  from,  where  we  are 
going  or  just  why  we  are  here,  unless  we  are  here  to  help 
our  Creator  and  the  only  practical  way  that  I  can  see 
that  we  can  help  Him  is  for  each  of  us  to  aid  those  below 
us  to  climb  higher  in  intelligence  and  morality.  Some 
moral,  intelligent,  loving  people  do  not  need  a  saviour  to 
tell  them  this,  they  naturally  know  it;  this  knowledge  is 
a  part  of  their  very  selves.  Helping  God's  Creatures 
must  help  God.  Then  let  us  all  get  in  and  help  build  a 
better  world  with  no  wars,  no  poverty,  and  as  little  sin 
and  sorrow  as  possible  and  surprise  our  Creator.  It  can 
be  done.  Nothing  but  ignorance  and  selfishness  stands 
in  the  way. 

Let  us  all  Join  a  Humantarian  Church  and  get  busy. 
Let  us  all  be  "home"  patriotic  first  and  then  "world" 
patriotic  afterwards,  adopting  the  motto:  The  world  is 


132  IS  CHRISTIANITY  A  FAILURE? 

my  church,  to  aid  others  my  religion.  Let  us  be  Ameri- 
cans in  local  affairs  only.  Let  us  be  World  Citizens  in 
all  matters  pertaining  to  other  nations  and  look  at  the 
other  fellows  side  of  all  questions.  Follow  the  Golden 
Rule  as  near  as  we  can  in  all  earthly  dealings. 

It  should  not  be  necessary  to  start  any  new  church 
"buildings,"  to  belong  to  a  Humanitarian  Church.  A 
word  to  the  wise  should  be  sufficient,  but  will  it  be? 

What  a  grand  thing  it  would  be  for  our  government 
to  say  to  the  foreign  nations  that  owe  us  such  immense 
sums  of  money:  "The  American  Nation  expects  its 
creditors  'to  do  as  they  wish  to  be  done  by'."  We  will 
expect  every  dollar  you  owe  us  but  without  interest." 
This  would  be  honest  and  fair  to  all  and  would  cause  the 
world  to  think  on  this  question.  The  little  dishonest 
interest  we  would  lose  would  be  more  than  offset  by  the 
moral  gold  we  would  gain.  But  it  is  probably  expecting 
too  much  to  ask  one  Christian  government  to  follow  the 
Golden  Rule  in  dealing  with  other  Christian  governments. 

If  the  leaders  of  America  were  real  leaders  they  would 
do  this  as  well  as  many  other  things  that  should  be  done 
to  start  the  world  to  thinking1  correctly.  America  could 
lead  the  world  to  universal  peace  and  happiness  if  she 
had  a  leader  or  two  worthy  of  the  name. 


TWO   KINDS  OF  CHRISTIANITY 

There  are  two  kinds  of  Christianity.  The  kind  that 
Jesus  taught  and  other  kind,  the  kind  that  most  of  our 
present  Christian  churches  teach.  I  will  call  the  former, 
Christianity,  and  the  latter  heathen  Christianity.  We 
have  a  few  churches,  thanks  to  a  few  broad  minded,  re- 
ligiously sane  preachers,  in  which  real  Christianity  is 
explained  and  enlarged  on.  But  a  majority  ot  our  Chris- 
tian preachers,  preach  heathen  Christianity. 

Jesus  of  Nazareth  Christianity  is:  The  Fatherhood 
of  God,  the  Brotherhood  of  man,  a  soul  with  a  future 
life  and  the  Golden  Rule.  It  was  taught  centuries  before 
Jesus  was  born.  If  not  all  in  one  religion,  in  various 
religions.  It  never  was  taught  as  well  as  Jesus  taught 
it.  But  Guatama  taught  it,  the  practical  part  of  it,  most 
of  it,  and  so  did  Confucius  and  many  other  great  men. 

Of  course  these  men  all  taught  a  great  many  things 
that  were  not  so  good,  also,  if  we  are  to  believe  history. 
But  this  does  not  lessen  the  value  of  the  things  they 
taught  that  we  know  to  be  good.  They  certainly  taught 
the  practical  part  of  true  religion  and  that  is  sufficient, 
If  we  follow  their  teachings  we  will  be  properous  and 
happy. 

We  must  have  a  new  church  movement  on  earth, 
either  inside  or  outside  of  our  present  churches,  to  carry 
on  good  work  started  by  Guatama,  Confucius  and  Jesus 
of  Nazareth ;  and  we  may  need  a  new  name  to  symbolize 
that  new  church  work.  The  name  Christianity  has  been 
disgraced  by  hypocritical  priests  who  attached  the  "fall 
of  man"  drivel,  the  "immaculate  conception"  slander,  the 
"son  of  God"  babble  and  the  holy  murder  on  the  cross 
teachings  to  Christianity,  to  bolster  up  the  lazy,  cowardly 
"vicarious  atonement."  dishonesty.  None  of  which  was 
ever  taught  by  Jesus,  This  religious  thought  with  the 
exception  of  the  "fall  of  man,"  was  written  into  the  Bible 
over  a  century  after  the  death  of  Jesus  of  Nazareth. 


134  IS  CHRISTIANITY  A  FAILURE? 

This  can  be  proven  in  any  unbiased  court  in  the  world. 
Any  one  can  prove  this  to  his  or  her  own  satisfaction 
by  just  reading-  and  studying  the  Bible  itself.  I  mean 
reading  intelligently  by  a  fair  minded  average  person. 
I  am  not  referring  to  people  who  make  a  living  out  of 
their  religion  or  people  who  would  be  considered  below 
par  in  reason,  taking  the  average  inmate  of  our  lunatic 
asylums  as  the  standard.  I  am  refering  to  intelligent 
fair  minded  people  who  are  not  satisfied  with  present 
earthly  conditions  and  would  like  to  see  a  better  earth 
life. 

Dishonest  priests  have  had  these  horrible  things 
written  in  our  Bible  and  we  hug  them  to  our  breasts, 
thinking  we  will  get  a  free  ride  into  heaven  by  doing  so. 

The  Christian  takes  the  cross,  symbol  of  the  foulest 
murder  on  earth,  and  kisses  it.  No  greater  sacrilege  or 
mental  crime  against  Jesus  or  God  Almighty  could  be 
committed.  This  is  worshiping  an,  idol,  a  stone  "cross" 
god.  We  show  by  our  actions  that  we  are  glad  Jesus 
was  murdered  by  those  ancient  devils  We  excuse  our- 
selves by  thinking  "it  is  the  will  of  God."  Be  careful 
there,  we  have  no  right  to  think  it  is  the  "will  of  God." 
All  the  proof  we  have  is  what  ancient  priests  wrote  in 
the  Bible  over  a  hundred  years  after  the  death  of  Jesus, 
and  what  modern  priests  tell  us;  priests  who  make  an 
earthly  living  by  selling  soul  things,  heavenly  things, 
religion.  We  should  be  careful  what  we  think. 

Christianity  purified,  will  be  the  grandest  religion 
of  earth.  All  it  will  contain  will  be  what  Jesus  taught, 
the  Fatherhood  of  God,  the  Brotherhood  of  man,  future 
life  of  the  soul  and  the  Golden  Rule.  Not  one  thing 
more.  Just  these  things  logically  enlarged,  explained 
and  placed  in  the  concrete ;  adapted  to  every  day  life. 

The  whole  world  can  rally  to  this  religious  standard 
and  will  rally  to  it  under  the  name  of  Humanitarian,  or 
a  better  name,  and  not  under  the  name  of  Christian," 
unless  our  present  churches  clear  the  name  "Christianity" 
of  slander;  because  the  horrid,  ignorant  superstitious, 


IS  CHRISTIANITY  A  FAILURE?  135 

dishonest  priests  and  preachers  have  disgraced  the  name 
for  nearly  two  thousand  years  and  have  caused  millions 
of  intelligent  moral  people  of  earth  to  suffer  untold 
torture,  because  they  dared  to  disbelieve  the  men  who 
made  a  living  out  of  the  supposedly  sacred  thing,  heathen 
religion,  which  they  called  Christianity. 

Our  present  churches  can  clear  the  name  by  throwing 
overboard  the  heathen  part  of  Christianity,  but  will  they 
do  it?  I  do  not  think  so,  but  hope  so. 

Priests  caused  Gallileo  to  be  persecuted  because  he 
said  "the  world  is  round."  Priests  caused  Bruno  to  be 
burned  alive  because  he  said  so  too,  and  because  he  did 
not  believe  what  they  told  him  to  believe,  and  they  did 
it  in  the  name  of  Jesus  and  Christianity. 

Priests  and  preachers  caused  hundreds  of  delicate 
moral  women  to  be  burned  alive  as  witches.  Now  do  not 
say  that  it  was  the  people,  not  the  priests.  I  say  it  was 
the  ancient  priests  who  alone  were  to  blame  for  these 
horrible  outrages  against  thinking  humanity.  They 
taught  the  people  and  generated  the  thought  that  caused 
those  murderers  to  kill  their  betters.  Priests  caused 
the  multitude  to  demand  the  death  of  Jesus.  Priests  al- 
ways acted  as  judges  at  all  the  mock  trials. 

Why  did  priests  do  it?  Because  they  made  a  good 
living  out  of  it.  Just  take  the  living  out  of  the  priest 
business  in  any  age  and  the  priest  business  will  go  the 
way  of  our  late  saloon  business;  the  way  our  present 
banking  business  will  go  when  the  common  people  of 
earth  wake  up. 

The  name  "Christian"  has  been  too  long  disgraced 
by  priests  and  preachers  to  ever  be  able  to  command 
the  respect  of  the  intelligent  thinking,  scientific  people 
of  earth.  The  very  mention  of  the  name  "Christian"  to  a 
thinking  person  who  is  familiar  with  history,  causes  a 
shudder.  He  thinks  of  the  murders,  massacre's,  wars, 
and  injustice  practiced  by  Christians  in  the  name  of  Jesus- 
He  thinks  of  the  average  blind  faith  of  the  heathen 


136  IS  CHRISTIANITY  A  FAILURE? 

Christian  kissing  an  image  of  the  instrument  with  which 
Jesus  was  murdered. 

Think  of  kissing  an  image  of  the  sword  with  which 
your  dear  mother  was  murdered,  because  you  gained  a 
benefit  from  it,  because  all  of  her  property  was  left  to 
you  children,  and  then  justify  yourself  with  the  thought 
that  it  was  the  will  of  God  or  that  it  was  "God's  plan" 
so  you  children  could  get  the  money  to  live  happy  on 
ever  after;  so  you  children  could  go  to  an  earthly  heaven  ! 

The  lawyer  (the  preacher)  you  retained  to  settle  the 
estate  for  a  fat  fee,  could  comfort  you  by  assuring  you 
that  it  was  anciently  written  in  the  great  law  books  of 
ancient  times  by  solemn  faced  lawyers  who  made  a 
living  out  of  the  lawyer  business  and  therefore  wished 
to  make  business  good  for  lawyers,  that  such  was  God's 
plan  of  salvation  for  his  "chosen"  children,  that  it  is 
"Gods  Word."  The  lawyer  could  tell  you  this  hideous 
"fairy"  tale  once  a  week  for  your  natural  life  time  and 
you  could  afford  to  tell  your  conscience  and  reason  to 
"shut  up"  and  not  bother  you  while  your  lawyer  was 
telling  you  just  what  your  lazy  cowardly,  hypocritical 
self  wanted  to  hear;  how  to  enjoy  heaven  at  some  ones 
elses  expense ;  at  the  expense  of  your  murdered  mother 
or  Jesus  or  just  any  body  so  you  did  not  have  to  do  any 
of  the  suffering  other  than  shed  an  alligator  tear  or  two 
now  and  then. 

I  am  not  criticising  religion.  I  am  not  making  fun 
of  you.  I  am  just  telling  you  something  that  you 
should  be  told  for  your  own  good  as  well  as  for  the  good 
of  millions  like  you.  You  have  got  in  a  rut.  You  were 
placed  in  a  rut  when  you  were  young  and  your  mind  was 
plastic  and  it  will  take  a  pretty  hard  jolt  to  get  you  out 
of  it.  You  have  played  the  religious  "run  sheep  run" 
game  so  long  that  whenever  your  herders,  the  preachers, 
holler  "run  sheep  run"  you  all  scurry  for  the  shadow  of 
the  cross  and  the  blood  of  Jesus  to  protect  you  from  the 
reason  "wolf"  that  your  religious  herders  fear  so  much. 

Now  all  you  heathen,  "run  sheep  run"  Christians  get 


IS  CHRISTIANITY  A  FAILURE?  137 

ready  to  run  when  you  read  writings  on  religion  because 
your  religious  and  financial  herders  will  sure  yell  at  you 
when  any  writings  on  religion  or  "money  changers" 
appear.  I  know  something  about  priests  and  bankers 
and  am  going  to  tell  it  or  die  trying  to.  They  cannot 
stop  me  from  telling  it,  but  they  can  herd  you  into  a 
pool  of  symbolical,  innocent  human  blood  under  the 
shadow  of  the  image  of  the  instrument  of  torture  that 
produced  the  actual  innocent  human  blood  shed  by  Jesus 
of  Nazareth. 

I  do  not  admire  the  guillotine.  I  would  not  kiss  it 
or  bow  down  before  it.  The  cross  and  the  guillotine  are 
exactly  the  same  to  me.  They  belong  to  the  same  family. 
The  cross  is  an  ancestor  of  the  guillotine.  They  are  both 
instruments  of  murder  ;only  the  cross  happened  to  murder 
a  more  harmeless  more  innocent  and  greater  man  than 
the  guillotine  ever  did.  But  this  is  not  a  good  reason 
for  the  cross  turning  up  its  nose  at  the  guillotine  and 
refusing  to  speak  as  they  pass  by.  Looking  at  it  from 
a  moral  standpoint  the  guillotine  is  more  respectable, 
more  refined  and  more  merciful  than  the  cross.  The 
cross  was  a  cruel  agonizing,  long  drawn  out  tormenter; 
some  times  for  days.  The  guillotine  puts  it's  victims 
out  of  misery  at  once.  Let  heathen  Christianity  take 
the  guillotine  to  represent  its  faith ;  it  is  more  refined.  It 
can  furnish  more  blood  on  shorter  notice  to  drink  and 
wash  Christians  whiter  than  snow  in. 

If  Jesus  had  been  killed  by  guillotine  or  a  scaffold 
all  heathen  Christians  of  to-day  would  be  kissing  a  min- 
ature  guillotine  or  scaffold  and  be  wearing  them  around 
their  necks  or  in  their  noses  or  ears.  Heathen  Christians 
will  do  anything  but  think  rationally  on  religion.  Many 
modern  heathen  Christians  will  want  to  murder  me  for 
telling  them  a  few  things  that  they  need  to  be  told.  But 
I  advise  these  Christians  not  to  do  it,  as  it  will  immor- 
talize me  and  future  heathen  Christians  will  be  kissing 
the  electric  chair  because  I  was  murdered  in  it.  Dont 
do  it  my  heathen  Christian  friends.  Dont  do  it.  While 


138  IS  CHRISTIANITY  A  FAILURE? 

you  would  be  doing  me  a  great  favor,  as  I  would  "kind-a" 
like  to  see  how  it  seems  to  be  immortalized,  still — the 
electric  chair  might  hurt  me  some  and  then  see  how 
many  future  back  aches  you  would  cause  future  Chris- 
tian heathens  bowing  and  mumbling  before  an  image 
of  the  electric  chair  I  was  murdered  in.  And  just  think 
of  the  perfectly  good  spit  that  would  be  wasted  by 
kissing  the  electric  chair.  And  look  at  the  future  alli- 
gator tears  that  would  be  shed  for  me. 

Your  tears  would  not  do  me  any  good  alter  I  was 
murdered  and  I'd  "sorta"  hate  to  have  you  drinking  my 
blood  and  taking  a  bath  in  it  too,  or  eating  my  flesh  I 
might  need  that  blood  and  flesh  "when  I  am  ressur- 
rected"  as  the  heathen  Christian  remarked. 

Now  really  Christians,  what  difference  is  there  be- 
tween you  worshiping  a  stone  cross  and  a  heathen  wor- 
shiping a  stone  god?  The  only  difference  I  can  see,  is 
that  you  are  worshiping  an  image  of  something  that  you 
know  all  about,  murder  and  blood,  while  the  heathen 
is  worshiping  an  image  of  something  he  knows  nothing 
about,  the  unknown  God,  the  Creator  of  us  all.  For  my 
part  I  think  the  heathen  is  the  most  rational  and  humane. 
If  you  ever  want  to  make  me  feel  sorry  for  myself  just 
call  me  a  Christian.  I  am  not  a  Christian  and  you  calling 
me  one  will  not  make  it  so.  I  am  a  Humanitarian.  I 
belong  to  the  Humanitarian  Church.  The  Church  of 
Common  Sense.  The  world  is  my  church,  to  aid  others 
my  religion.  Yes  I,m  bad  and  I  know  it.  You'r  bad  and 
you  dont  know  it.  I  am  just  a  little  further  along  than 
you  are  when  I  admit  it.  The  trouble  with  you  Chris- 
tians is  that  you  are  so  terribly  conceited.  You  tell  your 
little  murder  story  and  if  others  do  not  believe  it  you  call 
them  heathens  and  think  yourselves  above  them  when 
the  real  fact  of  the  matter  is,  you  are  way  below  them 
in  intellect  even  though  you  are  above  them  in  audacity. 

You  brag  around  continually  that  Christianity  caused 
all  the  great  discoveries  and  made  all  the  great  inven- 
tions. A  bigger  fib  was  never  uttered.  All  the  great 


IS  CHRISTIANITY  A  FAILURE?  139 

discoveries  that  Christianity  ever  made,  is  that  the  world 
is  flat;  that  the  sun  is  inferior  to  the  earth  and  revolves 
around  it;  that  the  stars  are  lanterns  hung  in  the  sky 
every  night  by  Gods'  angels ;  that  this  earth  is  the  center 
of,  and  the  most  important  thing  in  the  universe ;  that 
this  earth  is  only  six  thousand  years  old;  that  a  certain 
Mr.  Joshua  could  and  did  throw  a  monkey  wrench  in  the 
machinery  of  our  universe  and  caused  the  little  old  in- 
significant sun  of  ours  to  stand  still,  stay  put,  until  said 
Joshua  said  "beat  it  sun,  beat  it."  And  for  why?  So 
Joshua  could  finish  slaughtering  people.  The  days  were 
not  long  enough  for  war  in  juggler  Joshua's  time,  so  God 
just  let  him  order  the  sun,  moon  and  stars  around  as  he 
saw  fit.  Christians  made  this  grand  discovery.  No  other 
book  on  earth,  other  then  the  Christian  "books  of  books" 
records  this  great  discovery,  the  discovery  that  a  man  of 
earth  can  order  the  planets  around  to  suit  his  desires. 
Oh,  I  tell  you  heathen  Christianity  is  a  great  thing  when 
one  becomes  really  acquainted  with  it. 

Christianity  also  discovered  that  "Thou  shalt  not  suf- 
fer a  witch  to  live."  Now  here  is  a  really  great  and 
grand  discovery.  Had  not  the  hundreds  of  thousand 
witches  been  killed  and  tortured,  where  would  We  be 
to-day?  Now  just  think  of  it,  where  would  we  be? 

Do  you  suppose  we  would  have  a  phonograph,  a 
steam  engine  or  a  flying  machine  ?  Give  Christianity  the 
credit  for  all  these  things  because  they  did  not  suffer  a 
witch  to  live  for  fifteen  hundred  years, 

Christians  were  the  persistent  brave  fellows  though? 

Another  great  discovery  made  by  Christianity  was 
the  instruments  of  torture  to  compel  people  to  believe  in 
Christianity;  the  fear  of  which  caused  Gallileo  to  get 
down  on  his  knees  and  beg  pardon  of  the  Pope  for  in- 
sulting Christianity  by  saying  the  world  is  round.  Just 
think  of  it,  in  olden  times  it  was  an  insult  to  Christianity, 
punishable  with  death,  to  say  that  the  world  is  round. 
Christianity  was  a  great  discoverer.  It  discovered  that 
the  world  was  flat  and  it  would  and  did  kill  any  one  who 


140  IS  CHRISTIANITY  A  FAILURE? 

disputed  Christianity.  And  how  did  it  do  the  killing? 
It  tore  them  limb  from  limb ;  it  tore  out  the  tongue  by 
the  roots,  that  denied  the  world  to  be  flat,  and  it  gouged 
out  the  eyes  which  saw  the  world  to  be  round,  and  it 
burned  alive  any  one  who  dared  to  oppose  Christianity 
or  its  great  "discoveries,"  that  were  untrue.  So  much 
for  Christianity  as  a  discoverer. 

Now  let  us  see  what  Christianity  invented.  Did 
Christianity  invent  the  telescope,  the  microscope  and 
other  great  scientific  inventions?  You  know  what  Chris- 
tianity did  to  Gallileo,  how  he  was  persecuted,  insulted 
and  made  to  call  his  invention,  the  telescope,  the  work 
of  the  devil.  Christianity  did  a  lot  to  invent  the  tele- 
scope and  bring  it  into  use,  didn't  it?  Why  did  Chris- 
tianity fight  Gallileo  so  hard?  because  he  opposed  Chris- 
tianity in  its  untruth  and  false  doctrine.  Christianity 
said  the  world  was  flat.  Gallileo  said  "it  is  round," 
Christianity  was  strong  and  over  rode,  rough  shod,  any- 
thing or  any  one  who  opposed  it.  Why  will  Christians 
want  to  kill  any  one  who  tells  the  truth  about  it? 

Christianity  says  the  earth  is  only  about  six  thousand 
years  old,  that  man  was  put  here  perfect,  and  fell  Dar- 
win and  geologists  have  proven  beyond  a  doubt  that  our 
earth  is  millions  of  years  old  and  that  men  evolved,  that 
there  was  no  "fall  of  man"  as  the  Christians  Bible  tells 
about.  What  did  Christianity  do  to  Darwin  and  other 
scientists?  It  slandered  and  persecuted  them  all  it  dared. 

The  fact  is,  Christianity  has  slandered  and  persecuted 
every  scientist  of  note  who  made  great  discoveries  that 
proved  Christianity  to  be  false.  It  is  true  that  a  few  of 
these  great  men  were  Christians  or  were  supposed  to  be 
Christians,  but  it  was  not  their  Christianity  that  caused 
them  to  discover  and  invent  things  that  proved  Chris- 
tianity to  be  a  lie. 

Most  of  our  great  inventors  were  professed  non- 
Christians  and  Christianity  faught  them  and  their  in- 
ventions or  theories.  Look  over  history  and  see  what  a 


IS  CHRISTIANITY  A  FAILURE?  141 

struggle  Chemistry  had,  developing  against  the  opposi- 
tion of  Christianity. 

The  fact  of  the  matter  is,  that  heathen  Christianity 
itself,  is  an  invention,  a  priestly,  religious  invention,  in- 
vented in  the  dark  ages  of  the  world,  when  men  were 
grossly  ignorant ;  by  men  who  crystallized  their  ignorance 
and  called  it  Christianity. 

Heathen  Christianity  is  a  disgrace  to  the  world.  It 
professes  to  be  an  angel  and  is  a  very  demon.  Heathen 
Christianity  is  responsible  for  the  horrible  condition  of 
our  earth  to-day.  If  you  want  better  conditions  reform 
Christianity  or  get  rid  of  it  altogether.  Start  something 
new.  The  name  of  Christianity  is  disgraced  before  both 
God  and  man.  Take  the  best  of  Christianity  and  add  to 
it  by  explanation  if  it  cannot  be  added  to  in  any  other 
way  and  discard  forever  the  old  worn  out  rotten  part  of 
it,  the  heathen  part  and  climb  heaven  ward  in  fact,  as 
well  as  in  theory.  How  can  you  Christians  be  happy 
with  all  this  suffering  and  crime  on  earth?  You,  more 
than  any  one  else  are  helping  to  produce  it.  You,  at 
least,  are  doing  nothing*  to  remove  the  causes  of  it.  You 
do  not  know  what  the  causes  are,  because  you  spend  too 
much  time  on  your  silly  "Jesus  save  me,"  wail.  For 
heaven  sakes  forget  your  little  old  selfish  selves  for  a 
while  and  do  what  Jesus  told  you  to  do ;  go  to  work  for 
those  below  you.  If  you  want  the  same  old  conditions 
on  earth,  just  keep  up  the  same  old  silly  thought  and 
actions  and  you  will  have  the  same  old,  or  worse  condi- 
tions. Jesus  is  not  going  to  take  the  trouble  to  come 
back  and  save  you,  you  are  not  worth  saving  when  you 
pose  as  a  silly  image  of  a  jealous,  brutal,  selfish,  blood 
scattering  god.  Wake  up ! 

One  of  the  greatest  stumbling  blocks  to  progress  is 
the  good  but  unthinking  Christians.  They  are  in  the 
great  majority,  that  is  speaking  of  Christians  especially, 
(most  Christians  are  certainly  honest  and  mean  well)  and 
nothing  worth  while  can  be  accomplished  with  out  the 
consent  or  cooperation  of  the  majority.  Just  being  honest 


142  IS  CHRISTIANITY  A  FAILURE? 

and  meaning  well  never  makes  the  world  progress, 
something  else  is  needed. 

For  instance :  I  knew  a  lady  once,  who  was  a  leader 
in  a  church,  a  leader  in  a  Sunday  School,  a  leader  in  the 
town,  a  leader  in  every  thing  in  the  community  that  was 
good,  refined,  benevolent  and  big  hearted.  No  children 
went  hungry  and  ragged  if  she  knew  it.  No  sick  or  crip- 
pled child  went  without  the  tenderest  care  if  she  knew 
of  such  child.  No  grown  person  either,  for  that  matter. 
This  Christian  lady  made  me  dig  up  a  few  pennies  oc- 
casionally to  aid  such  cases,  that  I  would  not  have  aided, 
had  it  not  been  for  her  natural  kind  heartedness.  But — 
when  it  came  to  religious  matters,  religious  thought,  this 
lady  was  a  three  year  old  girl  only.  She  could  no  more 
reason  on  religious  matters  than  a  fish  could  reason  on 
dry  land.  She  would  flop  all  over  the  beach  of  religious 
facts  and  manage  to  get  back  into  the  stagnant  pool  of 
religious  thought  in  less  time  than  it  takes  to  tell  it. 

She  was  usually  right  on  every  thing  but  her  religion. 
Because  she  could  reason  on  anything  but  religion,  and 
she  had  fine  reasoning  powers. 

She  told  me  one  day  that  she  believed  the  Bible  to  be 
the  "Word  of  God,"  that  she  loved  every  work  in  the 
Bible,  that  Christianity  was  the  religion  of  her  dear 
mother  and  she  would  never  go  back  on  it. 

There  you  have  it.  She  would  not  allow  the  sug- 
gestion to  be  made  that  possibly  her  mother  was  mis- 
taken. No,  the  woman  was  too  loyal  to  her  mother  to 
do  this.  That  is  why  she  would  not  and  could  not  reason 
on  religious  matters. 

Now  it  is  such  people  as  these,  the  people  who  do 
the  most  every  day  good  in  the  world,  that  unknowing- 
ly hold  the  world  back  and  keep  us  from  progressing  to 
a  higher  and  better  civilization.  They  prevent  necessary 
changes  in  fundamental  methods  that  would  aid  present 
and  future  improvements  in  religion,  in  governments  and 
in  business  or  economics.  They  block  progress  and  cause 
the  world  to  stand  still  and  suffer  more  than  they  dream 


IS  CHRISTIANITY  A  FAILURE?  143 

of.  Their  loyality  is  misplaced.  Their  judgment  is  poor. 
They  are  loyal  to  their  mothers  who  may  have  been 
mistaken.  They  are  loyal  to  their  church  that  might  be 
mistaken.  They  are  loyal  to  their  preacher  who  makes 
religion  a  business  proposition.  They  "think"  they  are 
loyal  to  Jesus  but  they  are  unknowingly  traitors  to  him. 
If  they  would  only  read  their  Bibles  and  study  them 
intelligently  they  would  see  this.  But  they  will  not  do 
it.  The  preachers  teach  them  that  to  reason  is  to  doubt, 
and  that  hell  is  paved  with  skulls  of  doubters. 

Christianity  takes  the  benefit  of  the  unselfish  every- 
day goodness  of  such  people.  Christianity  says:  See 
how  good  I  made  that  woman?  It  is  a  lie;  Christianity 
did  not  make  that  woman  good.  She  was  born  good. 
She  was  good  in  spite  of  Christianity  and  would  have 
been  better,  more  intelligent  and  able  to  do  more  good 
in  the  world  had  Christianity  not  filled  her  head  so  full 
of  blood,  murder  and  priestly  ideas.  She  would  have 
been  just  as  good  if  she  had  been  born  under  the  Chinese 
religion,  perhaps  better.  Christianity  did  not  do  anything 
for  her  but  warp  her  mind  and  contract  her  soul. 
Spoiling  her  grand  mentality  by  filling  it  full  of  hideous, 
impossible  and  "divinely"  immoral  fairy  tales.  Chris- 
tianity harmed  this  woman. 

This  woman  and  thousands  like  her,  does  much  for 
Christianity.  They  keep  Christianity  alive,  they  keep 
the  dead  clamy  thing  on  earth  centuries  after  its  spirit 
has  fled,  leaving  nothing  but  it's  form,  even  as  a  mother 
will  clasp  her  dead  babe  to  her  breast  until  long  after 
mortification  has  set  in. 

If  it  wasn't  for  the  loyality  of  such  grand,  motherly 
women  as  this,  Christianity  would  perish  from  the  earth 
and  we  would  have  a  better  religion,  a  Jesus  of  .Nazareth 
religion,  which  would  usher  in  a  better  civilization  and 
until  these  women  are  reached  and  educated  no  one 
need  to  look  for  better  earthly  conditions. 

The  hope  of  the  world  lies  with  the  heart  of  the  world 
and  all  we  need  is  educated  hearts  as  well  as  educated 


144  IS  CHRISTIANITY  A  FAILURE? 

brains.  The  women  have  a  monoply  on  the  world's  heart 
and  when  they  can  be  made  to  realize  that  they,  at 
present,  not  only  stand  in  the  way  of  progress,  but 
can  actually  build  a  better  world  themselves,  there  will 
be  something  doing.  The  men  will  never  do  it  alone. 
They  or  the  most  of  them  are  too  busy  making  a  living 
out  of  their  religion  and  their  business,  to  think  or  care 
much  more  than  a  day  ahead  of  their  time.  The  height 
of  too  many  men's  ambition  is  a  little  home  brew,  a 
cigaret  with  an  occassional  hunk  of  quivering  animal 
flesh  to  eat. 

Now  how  can  you  expect  any  better  conditions  on 
earth?  How  can  you  expect  anything  but  hard  times, 
strikes,  riots,  bread  lines,  wars  and  rumors  of  wars,  with 
unemployment,  sickness,  sorrow  and  premature  death. 
Go  to  it  people  if  you  are  happy  I  don't  know  why  I 
should  worry. 

Christianity  grew  out  of  spiritualism.  The  Bible  is 
full  of  spiritualism  and  spiritualism  is  a  dangerous  thing 
to  bother  with.  It  is  like  fire,  liable  to  do  more  damage 
than  good. 

Is  spiritualism  a  fact?  Sure  it  is.  So  is  dynamite  a 
fact,  but  take  my  advise,  do  not  exeperiment  with  either. 
I  know  something  about  both.  Keep  just  as  far  from 
both  as  you  can  and  you  will  live  longer  and  happier. 
While  it  might  be  safe  for  a  Sir  Oliver  Lodge  to  experi- 
ment with  either,  the  average  man  or  woman  had  better 
let  both  alone. 

Do  not  try  to  comprehend  the  unknowable.  Do  not 
try  to  comprehend  God,  for  he  who  does  will  die  trying. 
He  will  never  do  it,  this  side  of  death.  Just  "believe" 
in  a  God  and  let  it  go  at  that.  Do  not  waste  any  time 
trying  to  "know"  anything  about  God,  other  than  study- 
ing God's  works,  His  creations.  If  you  cannot  believe 
in  any  God  or  any  religion,  be  honest  with  yourself  and 
do  not  try  to  do  it.  While  I  believe  in  a  God,  I  admire 
the  man  or  woman  who  does  not  believe  in  a  God,  and  is 
not  afraid  to  say  so.  The  God  I  believe  in  will  think 


IS  CHRISTIANITY  A  FAILURE?  145 

just  as  much  of  such  man  or  woman  as  He  does  of  me, 
other  things  being  equal.  What  we  "believe"  regarding 
God  does  not  help  or  injure  Him.  It  is  the  way  we  act 
towards  God's  creatures  that  counts. 

Selfish  rulers  and  designing  priests  use  the  name  of 
God  and  religion  as  instruments  to  enslave  the  people 
and  get  a  portion  of  what  the  people  produce  by  hard 
work  without  paying  the  people  anything  for  their  pro- 
ducts. They  get  up  pious  frauds  to  fool  the  people  with, 
a  good  deal  like  we  fool  the  children  with  Santa  Clause 
and  other  fairy  tales. 

For  instance  Christmas  and  Easter  were  celebrated 
thousands  years  before  Jesus  of  Nazareth  was  born. 
These  holidays  were  ancient  feast  days.  They  were  a 
part  of  ancient  Sun  worship.  Christmas  was  the  be- 
ginning of  the  new  year,  because  the  Sun  had  started 
to  gain  mastery  again ;  because  the  days  had  started  to 
get  longer,  everybody  rejoiced  and  celebrated,  Which  was 
right  and  proper. 

Easter  was  celebraed  because  the  Sun  had  gained  in 
it's  battle  over  the  night;  the  days  were  beginning  to 
become  longer  than  the  nights.  Spring  had  come.  It 
was  the  resurrection  of  life,  of  all  life,  what  an  inspiring, 
glorious  occasion ! 

The  grass  came,  the  buds  burst,  the  flowers  bloomed, 
the  birds  sang  and  built  nests.  All  animal  and  vegetable 
life  was  renewed  and  man  felt  the  invigorating  influence 
of  spring,  the  annual  resurrection  of  life,  all  life,  after  a 
long  period  of  inaction.  The  bursting  into  life  of  the 
apparently  dead  twig  or  seed;  the  bud,  the  blossm,  the 
fruit.  The  resurrection  of  all  life,  not  just  the  resurrec- 
tion of  one  man.  This  naturally  called  for  a  celebration. 

Christianity  appropriated  these  age  old  feast  days  of 
pagan  religions,  and  priests  claimed  that  Jesus  was  born 
on  one  of  these  days  and  resurrected  on  the  other.  Of 
course  no  one  can  prove  whether  Jesus  was  or  was  not 
born  on  one  of  these  days  and  resurrected  on  the  other. 
But  whether  he  was  or  not,  is  not  important.  These 


146  IS  CHRISTIANITY  A  FAILURE? 

days  were  celebrated  centuries  before,  and  will  always 
be  celebrated  for  the  same  reasons  they  were  first  cele- 
brated. 

Christianity  borrowed  it's  religion  or  the  main  part 
of  it,  from  Moses.  Moses  borrowed  the  main  part  of  his 
religion  from  the  Egyptians.  The  Egyptians  borrowed 
their  religion  from  the  Hindus.  And  J  don't  know 
where  the  Hindus  got  their  religion  and  do  not  care. 

Each  one  of  these  religions  started  out  with  some 
truth  and  collected  all  the  filthy  error  that  could  stick 
to  them  until  they  contained  more  error  than  truth ; 
until  they  were  all  form  and  no  spirit,  when  they  gradually 
passed  away,  even  as  Christianity  is  passing  away  in 
our  day. 

The  sacred  books  of  Egypt,  where  Moses  was  born 
and  raised,  taught  most  everything  that  Christianity 
teaches,  though  in  a  somewhat  cruder  form ;  such  as  the 
"one  God"  above  all  others ;  a  future  life  and  future 
judgment;  a  morality  of  justice  and  mercy;  the  Egyp- 
tians put  much  stress  on  the  doctrine  of  a  future  life. 
Most  of  these  ancient  religions  had  their  "virgin  mother 
of  God;,,  their  "Christ  leaders  or  saviours"  and  their 
"miraculous  births  and  deaths." 

There  is  absolutly  nothing  in  Christianity  that  was 
not  taught  by  "heathen"  religions  centuries  before  Jesus 
was  born. 

Christianity  is  full  of  supertition  and  its  prayer  is  a 
selfish  wail  addressed  to  a  god  who  caused  his  own 
son  to  be  treacherously  betrayed  and  brutally  murdered, 
asking  the  god  to  grant  a  benefit  to  the  human  through 
cold  blooded  murder.  Priests  and  preachers  are  not 
wholly  to  blame  for  this  state  of  affairs.  Nine  tenths 
of  them  know  better,  and  would  teach  better  if  the 
people  would  allow  it.  They  should  be  teachers  and 
leaders  of  live  thought,  instead  of  preachers  of  a  dead 
religion. 

The  man  who  spends  his  valuable  time  working  with 
a  microscope  or  telescope  that  he  may  observe  and 


IS  CHRISTIANITY  A  FAILURE?  147 

record  some  new  fact  in  nature  that  will  aid  or  instruct 
mankind ;  aid  in  the  cure  or  prevention  of  disease ; 
instruction  regarding  weather  conditions  that  may  injure 
or  increase  crops,  and  who  usually  works  without  salary, 
is  a  better  servant  of  God  than  the  average  preacher  who 
with  sanctimoneous  face  tells  other  people  what  they 
must  do  to  go  to  heaven  and  what  they  must  not  do  or 
go  to  hell,  and  for  which  telling  he  receives  a  regular 
pay  envelope ;  doing  most  of  his  work  on  the  Sabbath 
that  he  would  send  other  people  to  jail  for  working  on. 
In  order  to  believe  in  and  follow  Jesus  a  preaceher  should 
be  a  Jesus  to  his  congregation,  but  few  of  them  are ;  they 
are  only  star  boarders  who  never  really  pay  their  board. 

One  of  the  greatest  errors  of  Christianity  is  the  asser- 
tion that  no  one  dare  approach  his  Creator,  personally ; 
that  we  all  must  come  through  a  third  party,  a  Jesus,  a 
pope  or  a  church.  This  is  silly  and  unjust.  The  idea 
was  invented  by  priests.  The  kind  of  priests  that  Jesus 
fought.  The  kind  of  priests  that  demanded  and  caused 
the  horrible  death  of  Jesus.  Selfishness  and  hypocritical 
greed  are  the  parents  of  this  idea.  The  priests  fix  it  so 
it  takes  money  to  get  salvation.  They  evidently  need 
the  money. 

To  say  that  an  innocent  babe  could  not  go  direct  to 
it's  Heavenly  Father  without  the  aid  of  a  "saviour" 
simply  because  an  ancestor  of  that  babe,  some  thousands 
of  years  before  it's  birth,  had  committed  a  sin,  is  a  crime 
against  humanity.  And  to  say  that  God  or  Jesus  said  so, 
is  a  worse  crime  against!  God  and  Jesus. 

It  is  hard  for  me  to  believe  that  any  sane,  thinking 
man  can  believe  this  unless  taught  it  in  early  childhood, 
and  it  is  not  fair  to  childhood  to  teach  such  unjust  ideas 
to  trusting  children. 

It  is  a  Christian  theory  that  God  created  man  perfect, 
the  man  was  tempted  and  "fell."  That  God  became  an- 
gry and  pronounced  a  curse  on  man  and  drove  man 
from  Him.  That  man  went  from  bad  to  worse  and  God 
in  his  effort  to  teach  man  a  lesson,  destroyed  the  human 


148  IS  CHRISTIANITY  A  FAILURE? 

race  by  a  flood  saving  one  family  only.  That  this  did 
not  help  matters.  Then  God  wishing  to  coax  man  back 
to  Him,  He  formulated  what  Christians  call  the  "Great 
Scheme  of  Salvation,"  which  included  the  sending  of 
God's  only  son  to  earth  to  be  immorally  born  and  ignobly 
die,  after  leading  a  sorrowful  life  among  traitors  and 
demons.  That  God  did  the  planning,  man  did  the  mur- 
dering, and  Jesus  furnished  the  blood  to  wash  away  the 
sins  of  Christians  and  make  them  whiter  than  snow,  so 
said  Christians  could  face  God  again  without  getting 
stage  fright  or  feeling  nervous. 

Grand  scheme  for  every  one  but  Jesus.  The  Jews  had 
fun  spilling  blood.  A  man-made  god  had  fun  planning 
the  blood  spilling,  and  selfish  thoughtless  heathen 
Christians  have  lots  of  fun  going  to  heaven  via  the  lazy, 
cowardly,  blood  spilling  route  and  why  should  I  object? 

Well,  for  instnace,  I  have  been  asked  several  times 
if  I  was  a  Christian  and  if  not,  why?  And  I  have  always 
answered :  show  me  a  little  proof  of  your  god-made, 
blood  spilling  plan,  that  our  courts  would  accept  as  real 
evidence  and  I  will  talk  it  over  with  you ;  you  have  no 
authority  other  than  the  Bible  and  why  should  we  be- 
lieve the  Bible?  "Because  it  is  the  word  of  God,  it  says 
so  itself."  A  dime  novel  might  say  the  same  thing. 

Few  men  or  women  have  desire  or  ability  to  think 
much  or  deeply  and  reason  correctly,  hence  the  tendency 
to  mentally  lean  on  ready  made  thought  and  precedent; 
Stare  Decisis. 

The  religion,  the  politics,  the  business  methods  of 
the  father  or  mother  of  the  average  man  or  women  seems 
to  be  good  enough  for  them.  The  average  man  or  woman 
would  rather  be  loyal  to  custom  than  to  be  thoughtful. 

The  first  law  of  human  nature  is  self-preservation. 
The  second  law  is  the  tendency  of  man  to  gratify  his 
desires  with  the  least  amount  of  exertion.  The  average 
person  will  not  climb  a  tree  for  oranges  when  he  is  sure 
he  can  obtain  just  as  good  oranges  without  climbing  for 
them.  Under  these  circumstances,  if  he  does  climb  the 


IS  CHRISTIANITY  A  FAILURE?  149 

tree  it  will  be  more  for  a  desire  for  adventure  than  a 
desire  for  the  best  oranges. 

Man  is  naturally  a  religious  creature  and  must  have 
a  religion  of  some  sort,  and  the  religion  he  usually  gets 
is  the  one  that  comes  the  easiest,  conies  like  his  language 
comes  to  him,  from  his  mother's  lips  while  sitting  on  her 
knees ;  the  one  who  taught  him  before  he  was  able  to 
think  for  himself.  The  one  who  taught  him  before  he 
was  able  to  analyze  or  question,  who  taught  the  thought 
that  to  question  was  to  be  cast  into  hell.  All  "revealed" 
religions  teach  this  punishment  idea  more  or  less,  but 
none  more  forcibly  than  heathen  Christianity:  "There 
shall  be  weeping  and  wailing  and  gnashing  of  teeth." 
"Depart  ye  into  everlasting  punishment."  "Believe  or 
be  damned."  Great  language  for  a  "Prince  of  Peace"  to 
be  using? 

Beautiful  isn't  it.  Suppose  you  are  honest  and  in- 
telligent and  just  cannot  believe  the  bloody  thing  called 
heathen  Christianity? 

Heathen  Christianity  lives  to-day  because  designing 
priests  know  the  weakness  of  human  nature  and  warp 
the  minds  of  the  young  so  they  may  live  an  easy  gentle- 
manly life,  fattening  on  the  blood  and  tears  of  humanity, 
and  because  the  people  approve  of  it  and  wish  the  priests 
to  stunt  the  minds  of  our  young.  Every  red-blooded 
intelligent  priest  knows  that  he  is  grafter.  A  few  weak 
minded  ones  do  not  know  it. 

Read  below  what  Andrew  D.  White  has  to  say  about 
Christianity.  Mr.  White  was  once  President  of  Cornell 
University.  He  was  also  Ambassador  to  Germany. 

"It  threatened  doom  in  this  life  and  the  next  against 
investigators  on  new  lines.  It  forbid  the  world  to  seek 
any  new  methods  and  to  follow  any  new  paths  which 
thinking  men  might  find.  It  claimed  that  all  knowledge 
is  in  the  Bible,  and  that  anyone  who  dared  to  suggest  any 
knowledge  not  in  the  Bible  was  a  heathen  and  death 
was  too  good  for  him.  It  tried  by  the  torture  chamber 
and  death  sentence  to  create  a  disrespect  for,  and  fear  of 


150  IS  CHRISTIANITY  A  FAILURE? 

scientific  pursuits.  It  condemned  the  study  of  science 
by  observation,  comparison  and  experiments.  It  con- 
sidered physical  investigations  as  an  impious  intrusion 
into  the  work  of  God." 

"The  establishment  of  Christianity  arrested  the  nor- 
mal development  of  the  physical  sciences  for  over  fifteen 
hundred  years.  The  cause  of  this  arrest  was  two-fold : 
first,  there  was  created  an  atmosphere  in  which  the 
germs  of  physical  science  could  hardly  grow,  an  at- 
mosphere in  which,  all  seeking  in  Nature  for  truth  as 
truth,  was  regarded  as  futile.  The  general  belief  de- 
rived from  the  New  Testament  Scriptures  was,  the 
thought  that  the  end  of  the  world  was  at  hand ;  that  the 
last  judgment  was  approaching;  that  all  existing  physical 
nature  was  soon  to  be  destroyed :  hence,  the  greatest 
thinkers  in  the  church  generally  poured  contempt  upon 
all  investigators  into  a  science  of  nature,  and  insisted 
that  everything  except  the  saving  of  souls  was  folly." 

Now  just  see  what  Christianity  has  done  for  science. 
Christianity  for  fifteen  hundred  years  looked  on  science 
as  an  unwelcome  batch  of  kittens  and  tried  to  drown 
them,  but  as  usual  the  cats  got  home  first.  Astronomy, 
Biology,  Geology  and  Chemistry  were  some  of  the  cats. 

Say  people,  you  should  read  Andrew  D.  White  on 
religion,  Get  his  books  at  the  public  library  and  read 
them. 

Heathen  Christianity  is  giving  it's  last  kicks.  The 
appointing  of  special  days  and  making  house  to  house 
drives,  the  holding  of  emotional,  saw  dust  meetings  to 
get  new  mentally  lame  converts  and  a  little  money  inci- 
dentally, are  straws  telling  which  way  the  religious  wind 
is  blowing.  Los  Angeles  records  59  religions  and  less 
than  one  half  of  the  people  belonging  to  churches.  The 
majority  will  have  none  of  it. 

Can  a  person  be  a  Christian  and  be  a  business  man, 
a  policeman,  etc?  Sure  he  can,  he  can  even  be  a  robber, 
white  slaver  and  a  murderer  and  still  be  a  first  class 
heathen  Christian.  All  he  has  to  do  when  he  gets  weary 


IS  CHRISTIANITY  A  FAILURE?  151 

committing  crime  is  to  call  a  priest,  confess,  pay  the 
priest  and  ride  into  heaven  over  a  smooth  boulevard, 
paved  with  human  crime,  human  flesh  and  human  blood 
with  a  cross  every  now  and  then  to  tell  him  that  he  is 
on  the  right  road. 

I  give  below  some  Bible  references  that  I  dare  any 
Christian;  Sunday  school  teacher,  to  read  and  explain  to 
their  classes.  That  I  dare  any  Christian  father  to  read  to 
his  grown  girls.  That  I  dare  any  preacher  or  priest  to 
read  and  explain  to  the  people  who  say  that  they  believe 
every  word  of  the  Bible  to  be  the  "Word  of  God."  I 
could  give  a  hundred  times  as  many. 

I  am  not  criticising  the  Bible  I  am  criticising  the 
silly  people  who  think  the  Bible  to  be  the  Word  of  God. 
Lok  at  Genesis,  chapter  38  paragraph  9.  Talk  about 
moving  pictures  being  immoral!  Just  read  this  whole 
chapter.  Should  this  nastiness  be  in  the  "Word  of  God?*' 
Gracious^  people !  what  kind  of  red  light  district  writing 
is  this,  to  be  the  Word  of  God ;  of  what  kind  of  a  god, 
if  it  is  not  a  man  made  heathen  god?  Ask  some  one 
who  knows  what  the  words  "in  unto"  and  "seed,"  mean 
as  well  as  other  strange  words  to  you,  and  then  go  off 
somewhere  and  blush  for  the  Christian  "Word  of  God," 
and  while  you  are  blushing  just  read  what  James  Free- 
man Clarke,  a  Jesus  of  Nazareth  Christian,  and  an  autho- 
rity on  all  religions,  has  to  say  on  page  61  of  his  review 
of  all  religions. 

"The  sacred  literature  of  the  Chinese  is  perfectly  free 
from  everything  impure  or  offensive.  There  is  not  a 
line  but  might  be  read  in  any  family  circle  in  England." 

How  does  this  compare  with  Chapter  38  of  Genesis 
the  Christian  "Word  of  God?"  We  have  always  been 
taught  to  despise  the  Chinese  as  heathens.  The  Chinese 
"Word  of  God"  has  no  red  light  literature  in  it.  Who 
are  the  biggest  heathens  us  or  the  Chinese? 

See  chapter  12,  paragraph  10,  Genesis.  See  what  a 
cowardly  schemer  the  father  of  "God's  Chosen  People" 
was.  A  nice  manly  fellow  to  start  a  chosen  people  with ! 


152  IS  CHRISTIANITY  A  FAILURE? 

Also,  see  chapter  16  of  Genesis,  to  find  out  what  man- 
ner of  woman  was  the  wife  of  the  father  of  "God's 
Chosen  People."  They  connived  between  themselves 
to  make  a  white  slave  of  their  hired  girl  and  after  the 
man  of  the  house  gets  the  maid  in  trouble  and  she  can 
no  longer  "serve"  him  they  kick  her  into  the  street  be- 
cause the  woman  of  the  house  got  jealous  after  making 
the  indecent  proposal  herself.  Read  this  and  think  it 
over  carefully,  and  see  if  you  can  find  any  morality,  any 
honesty,  any  refinement  or  any  decency  in  it,  remem- 
bering all  the  time  that  it  is  a  part  of  the  Christian 
"Word  of  God." 

You  say:  "Oh,  that  is  in  the  old  Testament;  that  has 
all  been  done  away  with."  Then  why  is  the  Old  Testa- 
ment printed  and  carefully  preserved  and  carried  down 
through  the  centuries  as  a  part  of  the  "Word  of  God?" 
Why  is  not  the  rotten  old  thing  burnt  up  if  it  is  super- 
ceded  by  by  the  New  Testament? 

I'll  tell  you  why.  The  priests  cannot  get  along  with- 
out it.  They  cannot  make  a  living  without  it.  The  "fall 
of  man"  is  in  the  Old  Testament.  They  cannot  get  along 
without  this  theory  to  bolster  up  their  "saviour"  theory. 
The  saviour  theory  was  predicted  by  priests  in  the  Old 
Testament  and  fulfilled  by  priests  in  the  New  Testa- 
ment. 

The  whole  thing  is  a  silly  bungling  plot.  Some  of 
the  predictions  in  the  old  Testament  were  translated  to 
appear  as  being  fulfilled  in  the  New  Testament.  All 
done  by  priests  of  course.  Some  honest  but  idiotic,  and 
some  dishonest  and  foxy. 

If  there  had  been  no  "fall  of  man"  in  the  Old  Testa- 
ment there  could  be  no  "saviour"  of  men  in  the  New 
Testament.  There  would  have  been  no  need  of  any.  He 
would  have  been  a  useless  piece  of  furniture.  Destroy 
the  Old  Testament  and  heathen  Christianity  falls  in 
pieces.  This  is  why  priests  hug  the  Old  Testament  and 
preserve  it.  So  do  not  use  the  excuse  that  "it  is  in  the 
Old  Testament."  Be  game.  The  Old  Testament  is  one 


IS  CHRISTIANITY  A  FAILURE?  153 

of  our  religious  ancestors  and  we  should  not  try  to 
disown  it  when  we  are  cornered. 

Read  Genesis  chapter  19,  paragraph  8;  a  Mr.  Lot, 
one  of  "God's  Chosen  People,"  offers  to  give  his  two  in- 
nocent daughters  to  a  howling  mob,  for  the  mob  to  do 
what  it  cared  to  with  them,  the  father  virtually  suggests 
making  white  slaves  out  of  them,  if  the  vicious  mob 
would  just  go  away  and  not  harm  Mr.  Lot  or  his  men 
friends.  Can  you  beat  it?  What  business  has  this  kind 
of  trash  doing  in  the  "Word  of  God?"  The  Chinese 
wouldn't  stand  for  it  but  we  do. 

Now  just  take  a  peak}  at  paragraph  32  of  same  book 
and  chapter  last  quoted  and  see  what  fine  daughters  this 
man  Lot  had.  Weren't  they  peaches?  What  is  this,  worse 
than  red  light  district  stuff,  doing  in  the  "Word  of  God?" 

You  Christian  Sunday  school  teachers  read  this  to 
your  classes  next  Sunday.  It  is  a  part  of  your  "Word 
of  God"  and  you  should  study  and  teach  it. 

My  writings  will  nearly  shock  you  to  death ;  but 
how  about  some  portions  of  the  "Book  of  Books?" 

I  am  not  criticising  you  or  your  religion  just  now. 
I  am  simply  introducing  your  religion  to  you.  The 
trouble  is  that  you  know  nothing1  at  all  about  your  own 
religion.  The  more  you  know  about  it  the  less  you  will 
believe  in  it. 

Outside  of  the  Fatherhood  of  God  and  the  Brother- 
hood of  man  using  the  Golden  Rule,  and  the  doctrine  of 
a  soul  and  a  future  life  Christianity  is  mostly  a  rotten 
mess  that  must  be  cleaned  up  and  I  intend  to  help  all 
I  can. 

See  Numbers,  chapter  31  verses  13  to  35.  Beautiful 
thoughts.  Exodus,  chapter  29  paragraph  10  to  21.  How 
inspiring.  Exodus,  chapter  31  paragraph  14  and  15.  This 
is  certainly  encouraging.  Exodus,  chapter  22  paragraph 
18.  Be  careful  girls  and  don't  doll  up  too  much  and 
make  yourselves  too  bewitching.  Exodus,  chapter  3 
paragraph  22;  chapter  11  paragraph  2,  also  chapter  12 
paragraph  35  and  36.  The  heathen  Christian  god  taught 


154  IS  CHRISTIANITY  A  FAILURE  r 

stealing  in  the  Old  Testament,  but — they  say  he  has 
reformed  in  the  New  Testament.  Good,  even  a  god  then 
is  not  above  a  little  reforming  now  and  then.  Exodus, 
chapter  34  paragraph  14,  a  narrow  minded  jealous  god. 
Exodus,  chapter  21  paragraph  6.  The  heathen  Chris- 
tian god  teaches  and  approves  of  human  slavery.  Abra- 
ham Lincoln  knew  more  than  such  a  god.  Exodus, 
chapter  29,  paragraphs  10  to  21 ;  Exodus,  chapter  24, 
paragraph  6  to  8.  Moses  was  the  boy  that  could  sprinkle 
blood  for  you. 

For  tricky  members  of  "God's  Chosen  People"  see 
Genesis,  chapter  30,  paragraph  30;  shows  you  what  a 
"foxy  grandpa,"  Father  Jacob  was.  Of  course  Laban 
had  cheated  him,  but  one  crime  does  not  make  another 
crime  a  virtue.  Also  Jacob's  trick  on  Esau,  Genesis,  all 
of  chapter  31 ;  an  angel  of  the  Christian  god  advises 
Jacob  to  commit  crime ;  Genesis,  chapter  34,  trickery  and 
brutality  of  Jacob's  sons ;  "Chosen  People  of  God." 

It  would  take  pages  to  record  the  instances  of  crime 
and  indecency  recorded  in  the  Christian  "Word  of  God." 
Things  that  the  average  person  does  not  know  about. 
We  must  discard  all  this  indecency  and  record  of  crim- 
inality. We  must  destroy  it  and  have  a  new  interpre- 
tation of  Christianity  under  a  new  name.  We  must  dis- 
card this  "Jesus  save  me"  wail.  Pure  thoughts,  good 
deeds,  hard  work,  with  some  prayerful  contemplation 
will  in  time  save  anybody.  Nothing  else  will. 

Purified  Christianity;  the  Fatherhood  of  God,  the 
Brotherhood  of  man,  the  doctrine  of  a  soul  and  future 
life  and  the  Golden  Rule  will  bring  heaven  on  earth. 
But — how  the  ignorant,  superstitious,  weak  minded 
will  fight  for  the  old  order  of  things. 

Of  course  preachers  will  be  indignant  at  the  asser- 
tion that  they  are  in  the  preaching  business  for  any 
other  reason  than  that  they  are  "serving  the  Lord,"  that 
they  are  merely  answering  the  "call  of  the  Lord."  But 
just  the  same  most  of  them  usually  hear  the  "call"  that 


IS  CHRISTIANITY  A  FAILURE?  155 

promises  the  most  salary  and  easiest  time,  the  nicest 
churches  and  the  richest  congregations. 

Some  say:  "If  the  Bible  is  not  the  "Word  of  God" 
why  has  it  lived  and  attracted  the  attention  of  men  for 
so  many  centuries?" 

Because  of  the  good  that  is  in  it.  But  that  is  no 
reason  why  people  should  devour  the  mental  trash  also 
that  is  there.  Another  reason  for  the  Bible  living  is 
because  of  the  easy  living  that  thousands  of  morally 
and  mentally  weak  people  make,  by  keeping  the  Bible 
alive. 

Again,  I  might  ask  you  why  does  small  pox  come 
down  to  us  through  the  centuries  and  command  the 
attention  of  the  world?  Because  a  thing  lives  is  no 
argument  in  favor  of  it  being  a  blessing,  looked  at  from 
a  human  standpoint.  Heathen  Bibles  live  also.  They 
have  lived  longer  than  the  Christian  Bible. 

Now  a  word  or  two  in  regard  to  the  New  Testament, 
which  contains  many  beautiful  things  as  well  as  many 
untruths  and  contradictions;  also  some  vicious  ideas. 
Some  people  say:  take  the  good  and  let  the  bad  alone. 
These  words  sound  fair  enough  but  a  thinking  person 
who  is  honest  and  cares  for  the  welfare  of  his  race  will 
not  utter  them  or  listen  to  them.  Because  he  sets  a  bad 
example  to  those  below  him  to  follow.  We  all  have 
those  below  us  who  copy  from  us  and  are  more  apt  to 
copy  the  bad  in  us  then  to  copy  the  good.  If  we  approve 
of  a  book  that  has  bad  and  good  in  it,  those  below  us 
will  be  more  likely  to  approve  of  the  bad  in  that  book 
and  let  the  good  alone.  While  we,  in  taking  the  good 
and  silently  letting  the  bad  alone,  are  committing  what 
might  properly  be  called  a  negative  crime.  We  should 
take  the  good  and  condemn  the  bad  in  the  strongest 
terms. 

If  you  indorse  a  book  in  which  stealing,  murdering 
and  robbing  is  praised  and  sanctioned,  even  though  the 
same  book,  in  other  chapters  does  teach  virtue  and 
gentleness,  you  thereby  indorse  the  vileness  when  you 


156  IS  CHRISTIANITY  A  FAILURE? 

praise  the  book  without  specially  condemning  the  bad. 
When  you  say  that  such  a  book  is  the  "Word  of  God," 
you  cause  weak  minded  people  below  you,  who  look  up 
to  you  as  a  leader,  to  get  a  false  impression  and  make 
the  mistake  of  accepting  as  good,  much  of  what  you 
would  consider  bad.  You  set  a  bad  example  by  allowing 
your  mental  religious  self  to  associate  with  bad  company 
and  thereby  mislead  others. 

How  about  Luke  Chapter  14,  paragraph  26.  Does 
that  sound  like  "peace  on  earth  good  will  to  men?"  Also 
Matthew  chapter  10  paragraph  34.  Ditto — these  are  not 
words  of  Jesus  of  Nazareth.  They  are  words  of 
scheming  priests,  wishing  to  enslave  and  intimidate 
human  minds  so  they  may  have  wordly  power  and  a 
nice  easy  living. 

See  Matthew  15,  paragraphs  24  and  26.  This  does 
not  sound  like  Jesus  of  Nazareth.  Calling  everybody 
but  Jews,  dogs.  Did  Jesus  say  this?  Matthew  5,  para- 
graph 39;  who  believes  this,  or  in  other  words  who 
practices  it?  Still  people  claim  to  be  followers  of  Jesus. 

What  do  you  make  out  of  Mathew  24  paragraph  34 
and  Luke  21  paragraph  32?  According  to  the  Bible 
Jesus  virtually  said  that  men  standing  before  him  could 
see  his  second  coming  before  they  passed  on.  Many  are 
expecting  him  nearly  two  thousand  years  after  he  said 
he'd  come.  Jesus  must  have  gotten  dates  mixed  or  the 
Bible  has  words  mixed  or — something  else.  I  am  certain 
Jesus  wouldn't  lie  about  a  little  thing  like  that,  and  how 
could  a  god  be  mistaken?  Oh,  I  know  your  priest  or 
preacher  will  be  able  to  explain  it  to  your  satisfaction 
by  just  making  a  few  uncanny  passes  over  your  im- 
agination and  then  you  will  see  as  clear  as  mud.  The 
priest  will  explain  to  you  that  the  word  "generation" 
means  two  thousand  years  or  any  old  thing  that  he 
takes  a  notion  to  do  and  you  will  believe  him  too.  If 
he  told  you  that  fear  means  love  you'd  believe  him.  He 
tells  you  to  fear  the  Lord  because  fear  means  love  and 
you  swallow  it.  If  he  told  you  hate  meant  love  you 


IS  CHRISTIANITY  A  FAILURE?  157 

would  believe  it.     But  go  to  it,  believe  the  sort  of  stuff 
that  fits  your  mentality. 

Luke  5,  paragraph  32.  "I  came  not  to  call  the 
righteous  but  Christians  to  repentance."  That's  the  idea. 
Jesus  knew  what  he  was  talking  about.  Look  it  up  and 
see  for  yourself,  I  am  quoting  from  memory  and  might 
possibly  have  twisted  a  word  a  little,  but  the  meaning 
is  there. 

See  Luke  6,  paragraph  1  to  9;  also  chapter  13,  para- 
graph 13  to  16  and  chapter  14,  paragraph,  3  to  6.  Jesus 
was  criticised  and  and  threatened  for  working  on  the 
Sabbath.  We  have  a  lot  of  silly  vicious  modern  Sabbath 
worshippers  who  need  a  Jesus  to  rebuke  them.  I  do  not 
believe  in  a  second  coming  of  Jesus  but,  honestly,  I  be- 
lieve there  ought  to  be  one,  or  a  fool  killer  or  something. 
Yes,  maybe  I  would  be  the  first  one  to  get  killed.  I 
never  thought  of  that,  but  any  way  I  wouldn't  have  to 
go  to  the  Christian  heaven  unless  I  wanted  to,  which 
would  help  some.  I  can  tell  you  right  here,  I  don't 
want  to  get  to  heaven  through  blood  and  murder.  It 
makes  no  difference  to  me  whether  the  man  is  double 
crossed  first  by  Jews,  then  by  a  god,  or  whether  he  is 
stood  up  back  to  a  wall  and  shot  before  sunrise.  I  just 
simply  will  not  profit  in  the  next  world  by  any  kind  of 
murder  in  this  world.  I  don't  care  a  continental  whether 
it  is  "divine"  murder  or  just  the  ordinary  hang  man  kind. 
I  will  not  kiss  the  rope  that  hangs  a  man ;  I  will  not  kiss 
the  spear  that  pierces  a  man ;  I  will  not  kiss  the  gun  that 
kills  a  man  ;  neither  will  I  bow  before  or  kiss  the  horrible 
cross  that  killed  the  best  man  of  earth.  Anyone  who 
will  do  it  is  deficient  mentally  or  he  is  a  criminal.  Take 
your  choice.  I  will  have  to  get  to  heaven  some  other 
way  than  by  drinking  blood  or  wading  through  blood 
if  I  ever  get  there.  If  I  can't  get  to  heaven  on  my  own 
merits,  through  giving  and  receiving  love,  I  will  try  to 
stear  clear  of  heaven.  No  one  shall  suffer  for  my  sins 
except  myself,  when  it  comes  to  matters  between  my 
Creator  and  myself. 


158  IS  CHRISTIANITY  A  FAILURE? 

The  Bible  as  a  collection  of  ancient  literature  some  of 
it  history,  written  by  people  of  various  degrees  of  ability 
and  morality,  is  an  interesting  book  and  should  be  read 
and  studied  by  everyone  who  desires  to  be  well  informed. 
But,  the  Bible  as  the  "Word  of  God"  is  a  hideous  mon- 
ster, a  gigantic  piece  of  pious  fraud,  and  blasphemy 
against  the  Creator,  Sustainer  and  Ruler  of  vast  Universes 
of  worlds.  It  is  a  venomous  dragon,  heathen  born,  and 
nurtured  by  a  humanity  hating,  power  loving,  priestly 
class,  crawling  down  through  the  ages,  devouring  and 
crushing  countless  thousands  of  men,  women  and  chil- 
dren spreading  hatred,  pain,  torture,  sorrow  and  death ; 
causing  blood  and  tears  to  flow  through  all  ages.  It 
produces  ignorance  and  superstition.  It  used  to  crush 
truth  and  science  by  means  of  the  torture  chamber,  dun- 
geon and  the  burning  stake,  simply  by  those  words  of 
black  magic  such  as  "witch",  "infidel",  "heretic"  hissed 
through  the  venomous  lips  of  popes,  priests  and  preachers 
until  at  last  science,  "the  light  of  the  world"  and  "the 
hope  of  mankind"  became  strong  enough  to  stop  it's 
progress,  but  is  not  dead  yet.  It  is  only  wounded  and 
science  must  and  will  finish  it's  work. 

This  huge  monster  has  stood  squarely  across  the  path 
of  progres  for  near  two  thousand  years  and  contested 
every  inch  of  the  way  made  by  science  in  it's  struggle 
to  enlighten  and  free  humanity.  It  still  stands  across 
the  path  of  progress  and  will  still  fight,  through  the 
priests,  to  hold  it's  sway  over  the  world,  but  it  is  a  weak, 
sick  dragon  in  our  day,  thanks  to  the  bravery  and  intel- 
ligence and  sacrifices  of  countless  thousands  who, 
through  untold  misery  accomplished  the  partial  defeat 
of  the  monster. 

"If  it  was  not  for  one  thing  I  would  not  disturb 
Christians  in  their  religion,  I  would  not  disturb  what 
they  believe  to  be  divine  revelation.  I  would  not  disturb 
their  peace  and  quiet,  and  by  reason  wake  up  the  minds 
of  the  simple  and  unreflecting.  I  would  not  endeavor 
to  turn  the  unwary  out  of  the  way  of  idiotic  peace  and 


IS  CHRISTIANITY  A  FAILURE:  159 

lazy  mental  subordination.  I  say  if  it  were  not  for  one 
thing,  I  would  let  the  unthinking  Christian  hug  his 
heathenish  religion  and  go  my  way  but  I  cannot  do  this 
even  though  it  cost  me  sorrow,  pain  and  torture  and 
even  death  itself,  because  I  feel  that  a  burden  has  been 
placed  on  my  shoulders  by  a  higher  power  than  earthly 
man,  and  as  I  have  been  shown  through  my  intelligence 
the  light,  I  must  carry,  the  burden  and  deliver  the 
message  even  though  the  heavens  fall,  for  me." 

Religious  Christianity  has  always  stood  in  the  way  of 
science  and  progress  and  it  always  will.  The  first  thing 
to  be  done  before  trying  to  help  usher  in  a  higher  civili- 
zation is  to  remove  the  monster  lying  across  the  path  of 
progress. 

Our  arithmatics,  spelling  books  and  dictionaries  are 
words  of  man.  They  rarely  give  us  wrong  information. 
We  can  rely  on  what  they  tell  us. 

The  Bible  is  said  to  be  the  "Word  of  God"  and  it  is 
full  of  misstatements  and  errors.  How  long  would  a 
"word  of  man"  stay  in  our  schools  if  it  contained  the 
misstatements  and  nastiness  so  common  in  the  Christian 
"Word  of  God?" 

The  Bible  says  this  earth  is  about  six  thousand  years 
old.  Geology  says,  and  has  proved  it  to  be  millions  of 
year  old. 

The  Bible  and  it's  student  taught  for  two  thousand 
years  or  more  that  our  earth  is  flat,  standing  still  with 
the  sun  revolving  around  it.  Astronomy  teaches  and 
proves  it  to  be  round  and  to  be  moving  around  the  sun. 

The  Bible  teaches  that  man  was  made  perfect  and 
"fell" 

Biology  teaches  that  man  has  evolved  or  developed 
from  lower  animal  life. 

This  all  proves  that  the  Bible,  the  Christian  "Word 
of  God"  is  not  a  good  authority.  It  is  full  of  error.  The 
Bible  has  caused  much  crime  and  murder  to  be  com- 
mitted on  earth  and  a  great  deal  of  it  to  be  done  in  the 
name  of  Jesus  and  the  cross.  The  Bible  is  full  of  mis- 


160  IS  CHRISTIANITY  A  FAILURE? 

takes  and  blunders.  The  Bible  recognizes  and  upholds 
slavery  which  has  caused  untold  millions  of  people  to 
suffer. 

The  Bible  was  responsible  for  slavery  in  our  own 
country  which  caused  our  civil  war.  The  Bible  caused 
the  wrong  idea  of  slavery  to  live  and  grow  and  is  re- 
sponsible for  misery  and  suffering  this  wrong  idea 
caused. 

What  Christianity  and  the  Bible  has  done  in  the  past 
it  would  do  again  in  the  future  under  similiar  conditions. 
It  is  a  fact  that  Christianity  and  the  Bible  has  caused 
thousands  of  the  best  of  humanity  to  be  murdered  in 
ancient  times,  but  I  would  like  to  see  all  that  is  good  in 
Christianity  saved  and  see  all  that  is  not  good,  crushed 
and  discarded.  All  the  good  that  is  in  Christianity  was 
copied  from  religions  that  were  here  before  Christianity 
came  on  earth.  There  is  more  error  than  truth  in  it 
and  it  must  pass  on.  It  is  a  crime  against  our  young 
to  teach  them  the  falsehoods  of  Christianity  as  infallible 
truth. 

The  kind  of  Christianity  that  most  of  our  modern 
churches  teach  does  not  make  bad  men  better  in  an 
instant,  if  at  all.  It  makes  cowards  out  of  bad  men  if 
they  take  any  stock  in  it.  They  never  take  much  stock 
in  the  Christian  heaven  as  their  mentality  cannot  com- 
prehend it.  They  fear  the  Christian  hell,  which  has  a  re- 
straining influence  and  thereby  acomplishes  some  good. 
But  more  good  can  be  accomplished  by  being  honest 
with  bad  men  and  teaching  them  that  the  only  hell  they 
will  ever  know  is  of  their  own  making ;  the  one  they  are 
continually  building  by  their  every  day  thoughts  and 
acts;  the  hell  they  are  constructing  out  of  'thought 
bricks"  and  "act  timbers;"  and  that  they  could  just  as 
well  be  constructing  a  palace  of  happiness  instead. 

They  can  be  made  to  realize  this.  They  know  that 
the  theft  committed  ten  years  before  is  recorded  in  their 
book  of  life  as  plain  as  though  it  was  committed  but 
yesterday.  They  know  that  it  cannot  be  erased  by  them 


IS  CHRISTIANITY  A  FAILURE?  161 

or  any  power  on  earth.  They  know  their  good  acts 
stand  out  as  clearly  and  that  their  reward  or  punishment 
will  be  the  difference  between  the  good  thoughts  and 
acts  and  the  bad  ones.  It  does  not  take  a  "Saviour"  to 
tell  us  this. 

Moses  was  a  monster.  He  ordered  thirty  two  thou- 
sand young  girls  into  white  slavely  at  one  time.  The 
Jewish  god  was  a  manmade  god,  made  by  Moses  the 
Monster.  The  Jewish  god  was  the  father  of  the  Chris- 
tian god.  We  must  have  a  bigger  and  broader  minded 
god  a  Humanitarian  God,  whose  chosen  people  are  all 
people  of  earth  regardless  of  what  they  "believe." 

"I  have  been  condemned  by  a  preacehr  for  trying  to 
take  from  the  poor  hard  working  widow  her  only  comfort 
the  idea  of  a  blessed  redeemer  and  the  future  happiness 
in  the  next  world;  a  thought  that  sustains  her  in  her 
hardships  and  lightens  her  long  weary  hours  of  toil,  and 
I  am  asked  what  I  am  going  to  give  her  in  return?" 

"Well,  in  the  first  place  I  am  going  to  help  change 
our  economic  conditions  so  as  to  shorten  her  hours  of 
toil  by  half  and  double  her  pay  which  will  help  some. 
It  will  give  her  time  to  improve  her  mind,  wear  better 
clothes,  be  somebody,  and  let  truth  have  a  chance  to 
crowd  from  her  mind  those  "beautiful"  Christian  fairy, 
murder  tales  that  makes  her  a  mental  as  well  as  a 
physical  slave.  I  will  teach  her  that  she  can  be  her  own 
"redeemer."  That  if  she  does  what  she  knows  to  be 
right,  that  she  will  not  need  any  other  redeemer;  that 
she  is  just  as  good  and  worthy  as  the  best  mortal  on 
earth  as  long  as  she  behaves  herself;  that  she  has  a 
right  to  say  to  priests  and  preachers  and  redeemers: 
get  from  before  the  love  of  God  and  me.  I  will  answer 
to  God  Almighty  for  my  own  sins  and  keep  my  money 
to  spend  to  improve  my  mental  condition  instead  of 
giving  to  noisy,  shallow  preachers  who  lives  off  of  the 
earnings  of  such  as  me,  without  working  like  I  do." 

"I  will  help  usher  in  a  new  economic  system  that 
will  put  the  useless,  idle  though  healthy  and  able,  priests 


162  IS  CHRISTIANITY  A  FAILURE? 

and  preachers  included,  to  work  to  make  up  the  extra 
amount  it  takes  to  shorten  the  hours  and  increase  the 
pay  of  the  'poor  widow  woman,  the  preachers  and  ban- 
kers seem  so  concerned  about." 

Foot  Note 

In  the  foregoing  and  following  chapter,  I  have  quoted 
from,  (to  me)  unknown  authors.  I  have  put  their  words 
in  quotation  marks,  and  I  would  give  credit  if  I  knew 
the  names  of  the  authors. 

All  of  the  matter  in  quotation  marks,  unsigned,  from 
this  page  to  page  180  are  words  of  John  E.  Remsburg. 

I  have  quoted  or  drawn  from  the  writings  of  Andrew 
D.  White — James  Freeman  Clark — Robert  G.  Ingersoll 
— Thomas  Jefferson — Tom  Paine — David  Hume — Vol- 
taire— Victor  Hugo — Robert  Burns — Dr.  Talmage — 
Henry  Ward  Beecher — Lord  Byron — Martin  Luther — 
Zoroaster — Pythagoras — Diogenes — Pittacus — Thales  — 
Aristotle — Plato — Plutarch — Cato — Cicero  —  Seneca  — 
Jesus  of  Nazareth  and  many  others.  I  have  put  into 
the  concrete  a  few  of  their  best  thoughts  on  things  worth 
while  in  this  life  while  exposing  what  seems  to  me  to  be 
some  of  the  bad  thoughts  of.  some  of  the  above  named 
authors. 


HEATHEN  CHRISTIANITY 

"No  man  taketh  it  (life)  from  me,  but  I  lay  it  down 
myself"  John  10-18.  According  to  the  Bible  the  mythi- 
cal Jesus  was  a  suicide.  Can  a  suicide  save  the  race? 
Are  these  words  of  the  real  Jesus  or  are  they  words  of 
priests? 

Christians  would  try  and  cause  us  to  believe  that 
their  god  is  so  just  that  he  could  not  possibly  let  man's 
sin  go  unpunished  and  so  unjust  that  he  could  cruelly 
murder  the  best  man  of  earth  to  get  blood  to  wash  men's 
sin  clothing  in. 

Martin  Luther  said:  "If  men  only  believe  enough 
in  Christ  they  can  commit  adultery  and  murder  a  thou- 
sand times  a  day  without  periling  their  salvation." 

AYas  Martin  Luther  a  Christian?  What  kind  of  a 
Christian  was  he? 

Christianity  appeals  to  credulity  instead  of  morality. 
Christianity  says,  believe  and  be  saved.  Morality  says 
be  good  and  be  saved.  If  you  do  not  "believe,"  you 
cannot  become  a  Christian,  no  matter  how  good  and 
noble  you  are. 

You  all  know  Dr.  Talmage  the  great  Christian 
teacher.  This  is  what  he  said : 

"Today  I  offer  you  the  pardon  of  the  gospel — full 
pardon,  free  pardon.  I  care  not  what  your  crime  has 
been.  Though  you  say  you  have  committed  a  crime 
against  God.  against  your  own  soul,  against  your  fellow 
man,  against  your  family,  against  the  day  of  judgment, 
against  the  cross  of  Christ — whatever  your  crime  has 
been,  here  is  pardon,  full  pardon,  and  the  very  moment 
you  take  the  pardon,  your  heavenly  Father  throws  his 
arms  about  you  and  says :  'My  son,  I  forgive  you.  It 
is  alright.  You  are  as  much  in  my  favor  now  as  if  you 
never  had  sinned'." 

Xow  isn't  this  beautiful  religious  molasses  with 
which  to  catch  silly  human  flies?  And  the  pity  of  it  all 


164  IS  CHRISTIANITY  A  FAILURE? 

is,  that  Martin  Luther  and  Dr.  Tarmage  were  honest 
conscientious  men  who  believed  the  Bible  to  be  the  word 
of  God  and  followed  where  the  Bible  led :  to  idiotic 
criminal  teachings. 

If  these  gentlmen  were  correct  in  their  teachings, 
what  is  the  use  in  being  good?  Why  not  have  a  good 
time  committing  crime  all  our  lives  and  just  before  we 
die,  "believe,"  "confess,"  "ask  forgiveness,"  fall  into  the 
arms  of  God  and  go  straight  to  heaven?  Lazy,  easy, 
cowardly,  dishonest  and  silly  is  it  not?  Of  course  the 
intelligent  would  not  reason  this  way,  but  the  ignorant 
and  brutal  do. 

Martin  Luther  said :  "He  that  says  the  gospel  re- 
quires works  for  salvation,  I  say  flat  and  plain,  he  is 
a  liar."  A  lazy  religion  for  you. 

Does  this  sound  like  a  true  follower  of  the  true  Jesus 
of  Nazareth?  No  matter  how  moral  you  are,  how  self- 
sacrificing  and  how  benevolent,  you  will  go  to  hell  if  you 
do  not  "believe"  what  heathen  Christianity  teaches.  See 
Mark  16-16:  "He  that  believeth  and  is  baptised  shall 
be  saved  but  he  that  believeth  not  shall  be  damned." 
How  gentle  and  loving!  Are  these  words  of  Jesus  of 
Nazareth  or  words  of  priests  spoken  by  the  mythical 
Christ,  the  half-god,  half-man  person?  How  much  longer 
is  the  world  going  to  stand  for  this  blasphemy? 

Jesus,  the  humane  man,  could  not  and  did  not  utter 
such  words.  Come  Christians,  believe  in  the  better 
part  of  your  own  great  and  grand  religion.  Forget  what 
these  heathen  priests  wrote  in  your  Bible. 

Read  what  a  great  man  once  said,  it  may  shock  you 
a  little  but  you  need  to  be  shocked  some,  it  will  be  good 
for  you,  it  will  not  hurt  you  at  all. 

"Redden  your  hands  with  human  blood ;  blast  by 
slander  the  fair  fame  of  the  innocent;  strangle  the  smiling 
child  upon  its  mothers  knees;  deceive,  ruin  and  desert 
the  beautiful  girl  who  loves  and  trusts  you,  and  your 
case  is  not  hopeless.  For  all  this  and  all  these,  you  may 
be  forgiven.  For  all  this  and  all  these,  that  bankrupt 


IS  CHRISTIANITY  A  FAILURE?  165 

court  established  by  gospel,  will  give  you  a  discharge ; 
but  deny  the  existence  of  these  gods,  and  the  sweet  and 
tearful  face  of  mercy  becomes  lived  with  eternal  hate. 
Heaven's  golden  gates  are  shut,  and  you  with  an  infinite 
curse  ringing  in  your  ears,  with  the  brand  of  infamy  on 
your  brow,  commence  your  endless  wanderings  in  the 
lurid  gloom  of  hell — an  immortal  vagrant,  an  eternal 
outcast,  a  deathless  convict." — Robert  G.  Ingersoll. 

Also  read  what  Robert  Burns,  the  poet,  said:  "A 
gloomy  heaven  above  opening  its  jealous  gates  to  the 
nineteen-thuosand  part  of  the  tithe  of  mankind,  and  be- 
low an  inexorable  Hell  expanding  its  leviathan  jaws 
for  the  vast  residue  of  mortals.  O  doctrine  comfortable 
and  healing  to  the  weary  wounded  soul  of  man !" 

The  above  is  what  Robert  Burns  had  to  say  about 
heathen  Christianity,  was  he  mistaken?  Was  Robert 
Ingersoll  mistaken?  Was  Dr.  Talmage  and  Martin 
Luther  mistaken? 

Matthew  25-46:  "And  these  shall  go  away  into  ever- 
lasting punishment."  No  one  but  a  devilish  priest  could 
or  would  utter  such  words.  As  if  we  did  not  have 
enough  misery  in  this  world  without  human  devils 
clothed  in  cowls  spreading  mental  anguish  among  the 
ignorant  and  superstitious,  calling  it  religion.  Jesus  of 
Xazareth  never  spoke  these  words. 

Heathen  Christianity  must  be  gotten  rid  of  at  all 
costs,  as  we  cannot  have  world  peace  until  we  do  get 
rid  of  it.  It  is  a  war  maker  and  always  has  been.  It 
divides  well  meaning  people  and  causes  them  to  fight. 

"Depart  from  me,  ye  cursed,  into  everlasting  fire." 
Matthew  25-41.  Also  Mark  16-16:  "He  that  believeth 
not  shall  be  damned."  Do  you  think  for  a  minute  that 
Jesus  of  Nazareth  ever  spoke  such  words?  If  he  did  he 
was  not  the  loving  brotherly  person  we  think  him  to 
have  been.  I  say  he  never  uttered  such  words  or  thought 
such  thoughts,  and  that  such  sayings  were  written  into 
the  Bible  by  designing  and  dishonest  priests,  and  should 
be  scratched  out,  torn  out  or  burned  out  ot  the  "Word 


166  IS  CHRISTIANITY  A  FAILURE? 

of  God."     Such  writings  make  devils  of  God  and  Jesus. 

If  all  people  will  read  their  Bibles  intelligently  we 
will  soon  get  rid  of  heathen  Christianity.  But  while 
reading  the  Bible  please  remember  the  following  state- 
ments that  can  be  proven  beyond  the  question  of  a  doubt: 

The  Golden  Rule  was  taught  by  Confucius,  Pittacus, 
Thales,  Sextus  Isocrates,  Aristotle  and  others  long  be- 
fore Jesus  of  Nazareth  was  born. 

Epicurus  said:  "It  is  more  blessed  to  give  than  re- 
ceive." 

Aristotle  taught  that  it  is  better  to  bear  an  injury 
than  retaliate.  Jesus  taught  the  same,  afterwards. 

Diogenes  Laertus  records  many  Greek  philosophers 
who  taught  "love  your  enemies."  So  did  Jesus,  after- 
wards. 

All  the  good  that  is  in  Christianity  was  taught  by 
Pagan  religions  before  Christianity  came.  It  is  my 
opinion  that  Jesus  taught  it  better  than  any  one  before 
or  since  his  time.  I  may  be  wrong  but  this  is  my 
present  belief  in  regard  to  the  matter. 

St.  Paul  was,  and  is  considered  the  greatest  Christian 
preacher  that  ever  lived.  He  believed  in  and 
preached  slavery.  Many  believe  him  to  have  been 
inspired.  If  this  be  inspiration  give  me  something  else. 

Here  is  some  of  St.  Pauls  inspiration  contained  in 
Corinthians,  14-34:  "Let  your  women  keep  silence  in 
the  churches  for  it  is  not  permitted  unto  them  to  speak, 
but  they  are  commanded  to  be  under  obedience,  as  also 
saith  the  law.  And  if  they  will  learn  anything  let  them 
ask  their  husbands  at  home ;  for  it  is  a  shame  for  a 
woman  to  speak  in  the  church." 

Also  1  Timothy  2-11  to  15:  "Let  the  women  learn 
in  silence  and  subjection." 

And  again,  Colossians  3-18:  "Wives  submit  your- 
selves to  your  husbands."  Ephesians  5-24:  "As  the 
church  is  subject  unto  Christ,  so  let  the  wives  be  to 
their  husbands  in  everything." 

St.  Paul  was  a  would-be  woman  enslaver.     He  vir- 


IS  CHRISTIANITY  A  FAILURE?  167 

tually  said  that  women  were  inferior  to  men  and  should 
go  way  back  and  sit  down.  But  mighty  few  of  them  are 
doing  it.  They  evidently  will  have  none  of  St.  Pauls 
inspiration.  St.  Paul  was  not  a  believer  in  science.  He 
said :  "The  wisdom  of  this  world  is  foolishness  with 
God." 

St.  Paull  did  not  encourage  Astironomy,  Geology, 
Chemistry,  Biology,  Mathematics  or  anything  taught  in 
our  schools.  According  to  St.  Paul  our  schools 
teach  "foolishness."  I  think  St.  Paul's  head  was  full  of 
foolishness.  We  can  get  along  a  great  deal  better  by 
studying  what  St.  Paul  called  "foolishness"  than  we 
can  by  studying  what  St.  Paul  taught.  Of  course  he 
taught  some  things  that  are  good  and  always  will  be 
good,  this  we  can  accept  because  it  is  good  and  not  be- 
cause he  taught  it.  He  taught  nothing  that  was  not 
taught  before  his  time. 

Victor  Hugo  said  in  speaking  of  priests  and  preachers : 
"Every  step  which  the  intelligence  of  Europe  has  taken, 
has  been  in  spite  of  you." 

"There  is  in  every  village  a  lighted  torch,  the  school- 
master, and  a  mouth  to  blow  it  out,  the  parson — Ibid" 
Pretty  strong  talk  Mr.  Preacher.  Think  this  over. 

Whatever  St.  Paul  said,  should  be  looked  on  with 
suspicion.  He  was  not  a  straightforward,  open-and- 
above-board,  honest  man.  That  is  if  we  are  to  believe 
his  own  writings  in  the  Bible.  Listen  to  what  he  says 
of  himself:  "Being  crafty  I  caught  you  with  guile." — 
2  Corinthians  12-16.  "Unto  the  Jews  I  became  a  Jew, 
that  I  might  gain  the  Jews" — 1  Corinthians  9-20  also: 
"I  am  made  all  things  to  all  men,"  verse  22. 

In  other  words,  St.  Paul  virtually  says:  When  I  go 
among  sheep  I  put  on  sheeps  clothing.  How  far  can 
you  trust  such  a  fellow?  The  greatest  preacher  of 
Christianity  acknowledged  that  he  played  hyprocrite 
whenever  he  could  gain  by  it.  He  also  played  robber :  "I 
robbed  other  churches  taking  wages  of  them" — 2  Co- 
rinthians 11-8. 


168  IS  CHRISTIANITY  A  FAILURE? 

Now  get  your  local  pastor  to  explain  this  away  for 
you.  Can  he?  Of  course  he  can.  He  can  "explain" 
anything  to  your  satisfaction.  Why  shouldnt  he?  You 
pay  him  for  it. 

Jesus  of  Nazareth  probably  the  greatest  man  who 
ever  lived  on  earth  said:  "Love  one  another."  Dr. 
Talmadge  said :  "A  red  line  runs  through  church  history 
for  nearly  nineteen  hundred  years — a  line  of  blood ;  not 
by  hundreds,  but  by  millions  we  count  the  slain." 

Do  Christians  follow  the  real  man  Jesus?  Should 
Christians  blame  thinking  people  for  pronouncing  Chris- 
tianity a  failure? 

Lord  Byron  said :  "I  had  rather  be  a  Gentile  than 
one  of  the  seventy-two  villianous  sects  who  are  tearing 
each  other  to  pieces  for  the  love  of  the  Lord  and  hatred 
of  each  other." 

St.  Paul  said  in  1  Corinthians  A — 10,  13:  "We  are 
fools  for  Christ  sake." 

Clesus,  who  lived  when  Christianity  was  taking  shape, 
said  the  following  was;  one  of  the  main  Christian  rules : 
"Let  no  man  that  is  learned,  wise  or  prudent,  come 
among  us;  but  if  they  be  unlearned,  or  a  child  or  an 
idiot,  let  him  freely  come.  So  they  openly  declared  that 
none  but  the  ignorant,  and  those  devoid  of  understanding, 
slaves,  ignorant  women  and  children  are  fit  disciples  for 
god  they  worship."  Of  course  it  would  be  mostly  ig- 
norant women.  No  other  kind  of  women  would  sit  and 
listen  to  a  preacher  like  St.  Paul,  that  commanded  them 
to  shut  up,  give  up  and  be  abject  slaves  of  brutal 
husbands,  as  no  other  kind  of  husbands  would  ask  or 
expect  such,  of  women. 

This  author  also  said :  "You  may  see  weavers,  tailors, 
fullers  and  the  most  illiterate  of  rustic  fellows,  who 
dare  not  speak  a  word  before  wise  men,  when  they  can 
get  a  company  of  children  and  silly  women  together  set 
up  to  teach  strange  paradoxes  among  them."  The  same 
thing  happens  to-day. 

All  new,  revealed  religions  start  among  the  ignorant, 


IS  CHRISTIANITY  A  FAILURE?  169 

and  flourish  among  the  ignorant,  or  unthinking,  for  that 
matter.  Many  worthy  unthinking  people  inherit  such 
a  religion,  but  few  acquire  it  through  serious  thought. 
Many  adopt  it  because  of  various  considerations  other 
than  real  belief,  while  there  is,  no  denying  the  fact  that 
far  too  many  really  and  truly  believe  the  silliest  trash 
as  absolute  truth. 

The  body  of  the  mythical  Christ  must  be  taken  from 
the  ancient  cross,  a  symbol  of  the  most  brutal  crime  of 
history,  and  buried.  And  the  cross,  as  an  idol  must  be 
dethroned  forever,  so  that  ignorant  disciples,  hysterical 
women,  designing  men,  and  hungry  preachers  can  forget 
it,  and  become  real  manly  and  womanly  citizens  of  a 
scientific,  thinking,  happy  world,  where  sane  acting  is 
the  rule  instead  of  the  exception.  The  slander  against 
Jesus  of  Nazareth,  one  of  the  worlds  greatest  men  must, 
and  will  be  cleared. 

I  do  not  know  that  Jesus  of  Nazareth  ever  lived,  but 
I  believe  he  did.  I  stand  ready  to  change  that  belief  at 
any  time.  All  I  care  for  is  the  truth,  for  the  truths  sake 
only.  I  do  not  wish  to  hug  a  false  belief  simply  because 
I  have  believed  it.  I  have  put  in  about  forty  years,  in- 
vestigating, studying  and  contemplating.  Trying  to 
arrive  at  the  truth  of  this  matter  because  I  cousider  it 
important.  I  certainly  can  see  no  harm  in  believing  that 
a  man  named  Jesus  of  Nazareth,  once  lived  and  that 
he  was  one  of  the  greatest  and  best  men  of  earth.  There 
is  a  lot  of  good  evidence  that  says  so.  I  know  that 
many  of  his  sayings,  or  what  history  teaches  us,  are  his 
sayings,  are  the  best  of  advice  to  follow.  Although  many 
of  his  sayings  are  the  worst  that  could  be  said — "Depart 
ye  unto  everlasting  punisment" — if  we  are  to  believe  the 
Bible.  But  this  does  not  lessen  the  force  and  effect  or 
moral  worth  of  his  best  teachings.  And  I  am  one  who 
is  going  to  believe  the  good  teachings  because  they  are 
good,  and  not  because  Jesus  taught  them.  I  am  also 
going  to  reject  the  vicious  teachings  because  my  reason 


170  IS  CHRISTIANITY  A  FAILURE? 

tells  me  they  are  vicious,  no  matter  who  taught  them 
or  is  said  to  have  taught  them. 

I  am  even  going  a  little  further  and  refuse  to  believe 
that  Jesus  taught  the  vicious  teachings.  I  prefer  to 
believe  that  priestly  writers  lied  about  Jesus  and  im- 
mortalized their  lies  by  incorporating  such  in  the  Bible, 
as  they  had  all  the  chance  in  the  world  to  do  it  without 
being  exposed. 

I  cannot  believe  that  a  sane  man  or  a  sane  god,  even 
could  or  would  say  in  one  breath :  "Do  as  you  wish  to 
be  done  by,"  and  in  the  next  breath  say.  "Believe  or  be 
dammed." 

I  cannot  believe  that  Jesus  said  at  one  time :  "Return 
good  for  evil,"  and  at  another  time:  "Those  that  deny 
me  on  earth  I  will  deny  before  God."  This  would  not 
be  consistent.  This  would  be  spiteful.  This  would  be 
the  priests  way  of  doing  it,  not  the  Jesus  way  of  doing 
it,  this  would  not  be  returning  good  for  evil. 

I  cannot  believe  that  Jesus  said  that  it  is  better  to  be 
injured  than  to  injure  any  one  and  then  said:  "Depart 
ye  unto  everlasting  punishment."  These  latter  words 
sound  like  words  of  vile  priests  to  me.  Sending  men  and 
women  to  hell  forever  is  not  practicing  the  doctrine  of 
"better  to  be  injured  than  to  injure."  Something  wrong 
with  the  Bible. 

I  believe  that  most  of  the  words  of  the  Christian  Bible, 
supposed  to  be  words  of  Jesus;  are  merely  words  of 
scheming  priests.  They  certainly  seem  to  be  to  any 
one  who  will  study  and  use  horse  sense  in  judging  it 

We  must  get  rid  of  the  cross  as  a  religious  idol.  It 
had  reference  to  and  represented  the  sexual  element,  for 
pagans,  for  centuries  before  Christianity  borrowed  it 
to  represent  murder. 

"The  worship  of  God,  the  Father  has  repeatedly 
clashed  with  that  of  God,  the  Mother  and  the  votaries 
of  each  respectively  have  worn  badges  characteristic  of 
the  sex  of  their  deity." 


IS  CHRISTIANITY  A  FAILURE?  171 

The  pillar,  spire  and  the  cross  always  represented 
the  male  god. 

"The  symbol  of  Phallic  worship,  the  cross,  has  be- 
come the  emblem  of  Christianity.  We  find  the  cross  in 
India  Egypt,  Thibet,  Japan,  always  as  the  sign  of  life 
giving  power;  it  was  worn  as  an  amulet  by  girls  and 
women,  and  seems  to  have  been  especially  worn  by  the 
women  attached  to  the  temples  (sacred  prostitutes,)  as 
a  symbol  of  what  was,  to  them  a  religious  calling.  The 
cross  is  in  fact  nothing  but  the  refined  phallus,  and  in 
the  Christian  religion  is  a  sufficient  emblem  of  its  Pagan 
origin;  it  was  adored,  carved  in  temples  and  worn  as  a 
sacred  emblem,  by  sun  and  nature  worshippers,  long  be- 
fore there  were  any  Christians  to  crave,  adore  and  wear 
it.  The  crowd  kneeling  before  the  cross  in  Christian 
churches,  is  a  simple  reproduction  of  crowd  who  knelt 
before  it  in  the  temples  of  ancient  days,  and  the  girls 
who  wear  it  in  our  day  are  innocent  and  unconscious  of 
its  original  significance  when  Egyptian  and  Indian 
women  wore  it  thousands  of  years  before  Jesus  came  on 
earth."  ^ 

Christians  fill  their  churches  and  homes  with  the  em- 
blem of  Bel  and  Astarte,  Baalim  and  Astoreth  and  ele- 
vate the  cross,  the  phallus  to  the  position  of  the  supreme 
deity. 

The  Christian  cross  and  church  spire  represents  parts 
of  the  human  body  which  nature  as  well  as  civilization 
teaches  us  to  conceal.  A  relic  of  ancient  Paganism 
copied  by  Christians. 

"Under  the  Kings  of  Judah  and  Israel,  the  symbol 
of  Aschera  (the  phallus)  became  an  object  of  general 
piety  which  was  found  in  every  house." 

"The  history  of  Osiris,  Bacchus,  Appolo  and  the 
Christian  cross  god  are  almost  identically  the  same.  All 
are  masculine  gods.  The  mythical  Jesus  is  a  solar  god, 
as  all  solar  gods  had  Christmas  as  their  birthday,  twelve 
apostles  or  twelve  signs  of  the  Zodiac,  expired  towards 
sunset,  sun-day,  the  day  of  worship.  The  cross  and 


172  IS  CHRISTIANITY  A  FAILURE? 

especially  the  crucifix,  was  an  emblem  of  solar  worship. 
It  was  carved  or  painted  on,  or  within  a  circle  repre- 
senting the  horizon ;  the  head  and  feet  outstretched  arms 
of  the  sacrifical  offering  or  curcified  Redeemer  pointing 
towards  the  four  quarters  of  the  horizon.  The  Lords 
supper  was  observed  in  memory  of  Mithra,  Bacchus  and 
other  solar  gods.  The  nimbus  or  aureola  surrounding 
the  head  of  the  mythical  Jesus  in  his  portraits,  represents 
the  rays  of  the  sun.  It  was  thus  that  the  ancient  adorers 
of  the  sun  adorned  the  effigies  of  their  god.  There  still 
exists  a  pillar  erected  by  the  sun  worshippers  of  Carth- 
age. On  this  pillar  is  carved  the  sun  god  Baal,  with  the 
nimbus  encircling  his  head." 

"The  Christian  doctrine  of  the  resurrection  had  its 
origin  in  sun  worship.  As  the  sun,  the  Father,  arose 
from  the  dead,  so  it  was  believed  that  his  earthly  children 
would  also  arise  from  the  dead." 

"Many  scholars,  including  Thomas  Jefferson,  have 
held  that  Christ  and  his  twelve  Apostles  related  to  the 
Zodiac  and  were  derived  from  this  stellar  worship/ 

The  Jewish  god  Jehovah  was  a  god  of  blood  and 
fire.  Every  time  he  turned  around  he  spilled  blood  and 
spit  fire.  The  ancient  Hebrews  were  a  brutal  ignorant 
people.  Probably  no  more  so  than  many  another  ancient 
people.  But  nevertheless  they  were  crude  and  neces- 
sarily had  a  crude  religion  with  some  good  in  it.  The  an- 
cient Hebrews  worshiped  fire  and  blood  and  scattered  it 
around  freely.  The  mythical  Jesus  was  said  to  have 
baptised  with  fire,  especially  those  who  displeased  him, 
as  he  sent  them  to  everlasting  fire.  The  Hebrews  kept 
fire  burning  on  their  alters  for  centuries  and  when  they 
felt  a  little  extra  religious  they  added  blood  to  the  fire 
to  please  their  god.  A  nice  gentle  god  and  religion  to 
be  ancestors  of  our  god  and  religion.  He  taught  the 
Hebrews  to  steal,  murder,  enslave  men  and  women 
and  practice  immorality  against  virtuous  young  girls 
of  other  tribes  or  races  of  people. 


IS  CHRISTIANITY  A  FAILURE?  173 

In  Egypt  they  worshipped  the  bull  god  Apis.  In 
India  they  worshipped  a  cow  god.  The  Jews  worshipped 
a  golden  calf  god,  and  we  wrorship  a  cross  god,  a  murder 
god.  The  Jews  worshipped  one  god  and  believed  in 
many.  They  gave  allegiance  to  one  without  denying 
the  existence  of  others.  Christians  have  five  gods: 
Father,  Son,  Holyghost,  Satan  and  a  female  god  Mary, 
who  is  similar  to  the  Egyptian  Isis  and  the  European 
Venus. 

Zoroaster  and  his  earliest  followers  believed  in  one 
god  only.  Later  they  believed  in  as  many  gods  as  Chris- 
tians do  to-day. 

Thomas  Jefferson  said :  "The  god  of  the  Jews  was 
cruel,  vindictive  and  unjust." 

A  thousand  years  before  Jesus  was  born  the  doctrine 
of  the  Trinity  was  preached  in  Egypt.  Osiris-Isis-Horus 
Also  in  India,  centuries  before  Jesus,  Brahma,  Vishnu, 
Siva  constitutes  the  principal  trinity.  The  Trinity  was 
a  Pagan  doctrine  that  Christianity  borrowed.  So  was 
heaven  and  hell,  angels  and  spirits,  virgin  mother,  im- 
maculate conception,  saviour  of  men  who  performed 
miracles  of  healling  the  sick  and  raising  the  dead.  All 
this  and  much  more  was  preached  centuries  before  the 
birth  of  Jesus.  There  is  a  story  about  hiding  Horus  in 
a  marsh  by  his  mother  Isis,  centuries  before  Moses  was 
born.  (Looks  like  the  Moses  bulrush  story  was  copied 
from  this  more  ancient  story.)  There  is  also  an  ancient 
Egyptian  story  about  the  sun  and  moon  standing  still 
at  the  death  of  Horus.  (How  about  this  Joshua?)  The 
ancient  Egyptian  Isis  and  Horus  are  similar  to  our 
comparatively  modern  Mary  and  Jesus,  Madonna  and 
Child.  Isis  is  veiled,  so  were  the  earlier  representa- 
tives of  Mary. 

"The  stories  of  the  resurrections  of  Adonis,  in  Phoen- 
icia, of  Osiris  in  Egypt  and  of  Dionysos  in  Greece  were 
old  when  Jesus  was  born,  and  paved  the  way  for  the 
origin  and  acceptance  of  the  story  of  the  resurrection  of 
Jesus." 


174  IS  CHRISTIANITY  A  FAILURE? 

Five  centuries  before  Jesus,  Prometheus  the  Titan 
god  was  worshipped.  The  legend  is  that  he,  like  Jesus, 
came  on  earth  to  intercede  and  suffer  vicariously  for  the 
race.  If  the  story  of  the  mythical  Jesus  was  not  taken 
from  the  earlier  story  of  Prometheus  it  certainly  did  not 
contain  anything  new  even  to  the  earthquake  and  dark- 
ness alleged.  Ancient  Greece  was  great  on  immaculate 
conceptions. 

Christianity  could  have  borrowed  this  idea  from 
several  ancient  religions  as  most  of  them  advocated  it. 
Plato  taught  the  most  of  what  Christianity  teaches, 
especially  the  best  part.  If  Christianity  did  not  borrow 
from  Plato,  it  at  least  did  not  not  put  forward  anything 
new. 

Pythagoras  of  Greece  and  Italy  lived  near  the  time 
of  Guatama  and  Confucius. 

There  was  a  small  Jewish  sect,  known  as  the  Essenes, 
which  adopted  to  a  large  extent  the  teachings  of  Pytha- 
goras. Jesus  is  believed  to  have  belonged  to  this  sect. 
This  sect  taught  many  things  that  are  in  the  New 
Testament  as  follows : 

"It  is  law  among  them,  that  those  who  come  to 
them  must  let  what  they  have  be  common  to  the  whole 
order." 

"They  carry  nothing  at  all  with  them  when  they 
travel  into  remote  parts." 

"Every  one  of  them  gives  what  he  hath  to  him 
that  wanteth,  it." 

"A  priest  says  grace  before  meat." 

"They  are  ministers  of  peace." 

"Whatever  they  say  also  is  firmer  than  an  oath ;  but 

Swearing  is  avoided  by  them." 

The  above  with  many  other  similar  sayings  were 
written  over  a  century  before  the  New  Testament  was 
written,  that  is,  if  we  are  to  take  any  stock  in  the  writings 
of  Josephus  and  other  great  writers.  Remember  this  and 
read  the  following  and  note  the  similarity : 


IS  CHRISTIANITY  A  FAILURE?  175 

Acts  4-32,  Matthew  10-9  and  Matthew  5-42.  Luke  22- 
19  Matthew  5-9  also  34  and  37. 

Cakes  were  eaten  in  honor  of  the  goddess  Ceres  and 
wine  used  in  honor  of  the  god  Bacchus  before  the  time 
of  Jesus. 

The  bread  of  Ceres  and  the  wine  of  Bacchus  was 
copied  by  Christians  and  is  today  the  Body  and  Blood 
of  Jesus ;  ancient  Pagan  ceremonies  adopted  by  modern 
Christians. 

"The  Athenians  long  before  the  time  of  Jesus  cele- 
brated the  allegorical  giving  of  the  flesh  to  eat  of  Ceres, 
the  goddess  of  corn,  and  in  like  manner  the  giving  his 
blood  to  drink  by  Bacchus,  the  god  of  wine." 

The  ancient  inhabitants  of  Greece  had  their  "holy 
water"  with  \vhich  to  purify  themselves  before  entering 
a  temple.  Their  women  carried  and  bowed  before  the 
phallus  even  as  our  women  of  to-day  bow  before  the 
cross  which  anciently  represented  the  phallus,  but  which 
represents  ancient  murder  in  our  time. 

Saturn  was  one  of  the  oldest  of  the  European  gods 
worshipped  in  Italy,  a  thousand  years  before  the  time 
of  Jesus.  His  greatest  day  was  the  winter  solstice  ex- 
tended to  include  December  25th.  All  business  was 
suspended  and  a  general  celebration  proclaimed  extend- 
ing over  several  days.  Presents  were  exchanged  some- 
what as  they  are  to-day  and  candles  were  burned  also. 
Now  understand,  this  was  a  thousand  years  before  Jesus 
was  born.  Strange  Jesus  was  born  on  this  day,  is  it  not? 
That  the  mythical  Jesus  only,  was  born  on  this  day  is 
the  reasonable  assumption.  The  real  Jesus  was  probably 
not  born  Christmas  time. 

Most  people  are  familiar  with  the  story  of  Romulus, 
founder  of  Rome  whose  name  was  changed  to  Quirinus. 
See  "Chambers  Encylopedia."  It  says  the  sun  was 
eclipsed,  a  dark  storm  was  on,  and  Romulus  was  carried 
up  to  heaven  in  a  "Chariot  of  fire."  He  afterwards  re- 
appeared in  a  "glorified"  form. 

Sounds  a  lot  like  our  Bible.     This  "chariot  of  fire" 


176  IS  CHRISTIANITY  A  FAILURE? 

route  to  heaven,  glorified  reappearance,  ascention  talk, 
virgin  mother,  miraculous  everything  fairy  tales  are 
thousands  of  years  older  than  Christianity.  So  do 
not  blame  Christianity  for  inventing  them,  it  merely 
copied  them ;  it  copied  all  it  has,  the  good  as  well  as  the 
bad,  the  supernatural  darkness  and  reappearance.  The 
Roman  myths,  suggest  the  supernatural  darkness  and 
transfiguration  of  the  cross  tragedy,  and  so  on.  All 
revealed  religions  are  a  jumble  of  myth,  fancy  and 
superstition.  Heathen  Christianity  is  no  exception. 

The  Easter  festival  in  honor  of  the  Saxon  goddess 
Ostara,  the  goddess  of  Spring,  was  celebrated  because 
of  the  resurrection  of  Spring  and  flowers,  before  Jesus 
came  on  earth.  Strange  he  was  resurrected  at  this 
particular  time. 

Hillel,  the  Babylonian  Jew  who  lived  a  century  be- 
fore Jesus  was  born  said:  ''What  is  hate  to  thee,  do  not 
unto  thy  fellow-men." 

"Nearly  every  festival  of  Christianity  is  of  Pagan 
origin.  Every  day  of  the  week  bears  a  pagan  name,  four 
of  which  are  taken  from  Scandinavian  gods.  The  Chris- 
tian word  "hell,"  was  derived  from  "Hel"  the  name  of 
the  Norse  goddess  of  the  lower  world. 

The  following  ideas  are  all  of  Pagan  origin  and  ap- 
peared on  earth  at  least  five  hundred  years  before  the 
birth  of  Jesus:  Son  of  God,  Messiah,  Immaculate  con- 
ception, Virgin  mother,  Angel  visitors,  Celestial  music, 
Star  of  magi,  Transfiguration,  Crucified  redeemer. 
Supernatural  darkness,  Resurrection,  Ascension,  Second 
advent,  Trinity  and  Unity,  Holy  Ghost,  Devil,  Angels, 
Immortality  of  the  soul,  Heaven,  Hell,  Fatherhood  of 
God,  Brotherhood  of  man,  Vicarious  atonement,  Mir- 
acles, The  cross  as  a  religious  symbol,  Holy  water,  Lords 
Day,  Christmas,  Easter,  Fasting,  Prayer,  Golden  Rule  and 
dozens  of  other  ideas  adopted  by  Christianity  and 
claimed  as  revealed  to  Christians  direct  from  God.  All 
these  ideas  and  many  more  similiar  ones,  were  old  to 
the  world  five  centuries  before  Jesus  was  born.  The 


IS  CHRISTIANITY  A  FAILURE?  177 

Assyrians,  a  thousand  years  before  Christianity  was 
born,  had  a  legend  of  a  garden  of  Eden,  the  making  of 
man  and  women,  the  temptation  and  fall,  the  serpent, 
the  flaming  sword  the  Deluge  and  ark,  the  Tower  of 
of  Babel,"  and  much  more  poetic  speculation  similar  to 
the  Jewish  account  in  our  Christian  Bible.  That  the  Jews 
borrowed  this  gossip  from  the  Assyrians  is  very  reason- 
able to  suppose. 

"The  ten  antidiluvian  patriarchs :  Adam,  Seth,  Enos, 
Cainan,  Mahalaleel,  Jared,  Enoch,  Methuselah,  Lamech 
and  Noah,  whom  Luke  presents  as  the  first  ten  progeni- 
tors of  Christ,  are  now  known  to  have  been  a  dynasty 
of  Babylonian  kings/' 

"Abram,  Isaac,  Jacob,  and  Judah  who  both  Mathew 
and  Luke  declare  to  have  been  ancestors  of  Christ,  and 
whom  Mathew  places  at  the  head  of  his  genealogy,  were 
not  persons  at  all,  but  merely  tribes  of  people." — Rev. 
Dr.  Ort,  professor  of  Oriental  languages  at  Amsterdam. 

The  old  Testament  is  a  Christian  version  of  ancient 
Jewish  writings  more  or  less  "doctored"  to  aid  Chris- 
tianity. 

The  "Word."  as  an  emanation  of  essence  of  divine 
wisdom  is  very  old.  Egypt,  India  and  Persia  had  it  in 
their  religions.  It  was  the  basis  of  'Platonism  and 
Zoroastrianism. 

Much  of  the  New  Testament  might  have  been  copied 
from  writings  of  Seneca,  Philo,  Plato  as  all  of  these  men 
lived  and  wrote  before  the  new  Testament  was  written 
and  their  writings  contain  much  that  is  in  it. 

The  mythical  Christian  Christ  is  a  growth  out  of 
religious  ideas  and  systems  that  existed  previous  to  his 
birth.  Many  gods  and  saviours  lived  or  existed  in  the 
minds  of  men  centuries  before  the  Christian  God,  and 
the  Christian  Christ  came  on  mans  mental  earth. 

Krishna  was  the  Hindoo  Jesus  of  Nazareth.  He  was 
one  of  the  Hindoo  Trinity.  He  began  to  live  in  the 
minds  of  the  Hindus  about  100  years  before  Jesus.  He 
was  miraculously  conceived,  of  royal  descent,  born  in 


178  IS  CHRISTIANITY  A  FAILURE? 

a  prison,  among  strangers,  angels  sang  at  his  birth, 
shepherds  visited  the  babe  and  virgin  mother,  the 
reiging  monarch  sought  to  destroy  him,  he  was  saved 
by  friends  who  fled  with  him  in  the  night  to  distant 
countries,  the  king  ordered  all  infants  to  be  put  to  death 
so  as  to  get  the  particular  one  out  of  the  way.  His 
mission  was  the  salvation  of  mankind.  He  performed 
miracles,  healed  the  sick  he  cleansed  the  leprous,  raised 
the  dead,  died  for  man,  was  killed  by  men. 

Now  this  all  sounds  very  much  like  the  Christian 
Christ,  written  a  century  before  Jesus  was  born.  If  it 
had  happened  a  century  after  Jesus  was  on  earth,  Chris- 
tians would  claim  that  the  Hindus  copied  trom  them. 
This  is  history,  this  is  indisputable  fact,  draw  your  own 
conclusions.  Somebody  copied. 

Gautama  died  563  years  before  Jesus  was  born.  He 
was  about  thirty  years  old  when  he  began  his  ministry. 
He  fasted  forty  nine  days.  He  had  disciples.  He 
traveled  from  place  to  place  and  preacehd  to  multitudes. 
He  preached  a  Sermon  on  the  Mount.  He  forsook 
father,  mother,  wife  and  child.  He  came  to  establish 
righteousness.  He  promised  salvation  to  all.  He  sent 
his  disciples  to  preach  in  all  places  and  to  all  men.  He 
preached  self  conquest,  charity,  and  return  good  for  evil, 
over  come  anger  with  love,  and  love  your  enemies.  He 
said  do  not  kill,  do  not  steal,  do  not  lie,  do  not  commit 
adultery,  do  not  use  strong  drink.  He  descended  from 
kings,  had  a  virgin  mother,  his  conception  was  announced 
by  a  divine  messenger. 

He  was  visited  by  wise  men  who  brought  gifts,  fasted 
in  the  wilderness  was  tempted,  angels  ministered  to  him, 
his  mission  was  proclaimed  by  a  voice  from  heaven,  he 
performed  miracles,  he  preached  on  the  "Holy  Hill ;" 
the  story  of  the  prodigal  son  is  among  his  sayings ;  he 
uses  the  mustard  seed  as  a  simile  for  smallness;  he 
speaks  of  building  on  sand,  of  the  rain  falling  on  the 
just  and  unjust;  a  "Mary  Magdalene"  woman  followed 
him,  her  name  was  Ambapali ;  he  had  a  traitor  among 


IS  CHRISTIANITY  A  FAILURE?  179 

his  followers ;  he  proclaimed  his  Kingdom  not  of  this 
world  and  many,  many  other  thing's  that  he  did  and 
said,  are  similar  to  what  Christianity  claims  to  have 
invented,  between  five  and  six  hundred  years  after  Gau- 
tama lived.  AYhat  would  you  think  of  a  fellow  claiming 
to  have  invented  the  steam  engine  centuries  after  its 
actual  discovery  had  been  advertised  to  the  world? 

In  reading  your  Bible  consider  the  following:  Mathew 
16-19  "And  I  will  give  unto  thee  the  keys  of  the  King- 
dom of  heaven :  and  whosoever  thou  shalt  bind  on  earth 
shall  be  bound  in  heaven :  and  whatsoever  thou  shalt 
loose  on  earth  shall  be  loosed  in  heaven." 

Did  Jesus  give  such  tremendous  power  to  Peter  the 
traitor?  The  man  who  denied  him  three  times  in  one 
night  and  to  whom  Jesus  said:  "Get  thee  behind  me 
Satan :  thou  art  an  offense  unto  me ;  for  thou  savourest 
not  the  things  that  be  of  God,  but  those  that  be  of  men." 

Nice  man  to  put  in  full  power  over  the  eternal  welfare 
of  billions  of  men,  women  and  children  of  earth.  A 
traitor,  a  coward  and  a  rebuker  of  Jesus.  A  wave  of  his 
hand,  and  we  all  go  to  hell  forever.  Jesus  never  gave 
this  man  such  power.  Jesus  never  had  such  power  to  give. 
These  are  words  of  priests.  Mark,  Luke  and  John  do 
not  record  this  most  important  incident.  Why  not? 

Peter  not  only  denied  Jesus  but  he  "cursed  and 
swore"  about  it.  A  fine  fellow  to  rule  heaven  and  earth. 
Good  men  must  have  been  scarce  in  those  days.  Peter 
was  anxious  to  know  what  his  salary  was  to  be.  Matthew 
19-27.  Peter  was  evidently  a  selfish,  traitorous,  cowardly 
vulgar,  undeserving  man,  if  Bible  accounts  are  true. 
Jesus  had  poor  judgment  or  a  poor  lot  of  men  to  pick 
from.  The  latter  must  have  been  the  case  if  Luke  22-24 
is  correct:  "And  there  was  also  a  strife  among  them, 
which  of  them  should  be  accounted  the  greatest." 

This  was  immediately  after  Jesus  had  told  his  dis- 
ciples that  he  would  be  betrayed  and  die  on  the  cross. 
Instead  of  feeling  sad  on  account  of  the  coming  death 
of  their  Master  they  began  to  quarrel  among  them- 


180  IS  CHRISTIANITY  A  FAILURE? 

selves  who  was  going  to  be  boss  when  Jesus  was  dead. 
The  first  twelve  Christians  were  certainly  a  fine  lot.  It 
is  a  wonder  that  they  did  not  quarrel  over  the  clothes 
that  Jesus  wore.  They  were  a  set  of  heartless  men  all 
right. 

Matthew  26-56.  When  the  Jews  came  to  arrest  Jesus, 
"Then  all  the  disciples  forsook  him  and  fled."  Brave 
fellow,  these  first  twelve  Christians !  One  traitor,  eleven 
cowards.  Rather  a  poor  starter  for  Christianity.  Two 
of  these  cowards  are  given  credit  for  writing  three  of 
the  most  important  books  of  the  New  Testament. 

A  coward  is  usually  a  liar  also.  Peter  was  both. 
He  deserted  Jesus  and  'denied  him  thrice."  And  still 
millions  of  people  believe  Peter  to  have  been  given  power 
over  heaven  and  earth.  Is  this  reasonable?  Does  God  pick 
out  cowards  and  liars  and  exalt  them  over  their  betters? 
If  He  does,  why  be  brave  and  honest? 

Matthew  and  John  were  both  cowards,  they  deserted 
Jesus  at  the  critical  time.  Were  they  liars  also?  Should 
we  believe  all  that  such  men  say? 

Heathen  Christianity  began  with  a  murder  that  it  has 
been  proud  of  for  centuries.  That  original  murder  has 
caused  millions  of  other  murders.  It  is  time  to  stop  this 
religious  foolishness.  Forget  the  cross  but  remember 
Jesus  and  his  best  teachings. 

A  person  said  to  me  recently:  "You  certainly  have 
undertaken  a  big  job,  trying  to  refrom  religion  and 
business  both.  You  will  never  do  it.  You  can't  change 
a  religion  and  a  business  system  that  have  lived  two 
thousand  years.  While  I  am  not  competent  to  argue  with 
you,  I  believe  you  to  be  wrong  and  I  think  you  are 
presumptions  to  think  you  can.  You  should  leave  such 
matters  to  our  really  great  men ;  our  presidents,  our 
judges,  our  congressmen,  our  bankers  and  our  ministers. 
They  should  know  more  about  these  things  than  you 
do." 

Thanks,  friend.  I  see  you  belong  to  the  "can't" 
family.  You  can't  make  an  argument  yourself  and  you 


IS  CHRISTIANITY  A  FAILURE?  181 

can't  meet  my  argument.  You  can't  do  something 
worth  while  and  you  can't  get  out  of  the  way.  You 
can't  give  out  an  idea  and  you  can't  grasp  an  idea.  You 
can't  help  and  you  can't  quit  hindering.  You  can't  say 
anything  worth  saying  and  you  can't  shut  up. 

About  all  you  can  do  is  to  "can't."  While  you  are 
"can't-ing,"  I  intend  to  work  and  do  what  little  I  can 
towards  reforming  religion,  government,  business  or 
anything  else  that  I  think  needs  reforming.  Nothing  is 
too  hard  for  me  to  try  and  help  reform,  unless  it  would 
be  a  chronic  "cant-er." 

If  reforming  is  left  to  presidents,  judges,  congress- 
men, bankers  and  ministers,  it  will  never  be  done.  They 
are  not  in  the  reforming  business.  If  they  tried  it  they 
would  lose  their  jobs.  All  reforms  come  from  the  bot- 
tom, not  from  the  top.  The  greatest  reformer  on  earth 
was  not  a  president,  judge,  congressman,  banker  or 
minister.  He  preached,  yes,  but  not  the  mushy  stuff  we 
hear  today.  He  taught  the  people  what  they  must  do 
to  be  saved.  I  am  a  follower  of  him  trying  to  pass  his 
thoughts  along.  You  are  not  competend  to  judge 
whether  I  am  correctly  quoting  .him  unless  you  know 
what  his  teachings  really  are.  You  do  not  grasp  the 
full  meaning  of  his  teachings  unless  you  study  them 
yourself  as  you  cannot  make  any  headway  listening  to 
what  the  preacher  says  on  Sunday,  forgetting  it  on 
Monday,  if  you  do  not  connect  ,  these  teachings  with 
week-day  business  affairs. 

If  you  listen  to  the  tale  about  the  "money  changers" 
and  think  of  it  as  a  religious  incident  of  olden  times,  you 
fail  to  grasp  the  full  meaning  of  it.  This  act  of  Jesus 
was  not  so  much  a  religious  incident  as  it  was  economic. 
It  was  a  protest  against  business  robbery ;  a  protest 
against  people  getting  something  for  nothing;  a  protest 
against  people  cheating.  It  is  not  a  story  to  mumble  in 
Sunday  school  and  marvel  over,  but  a  lesson  that  we 
should  apply  to  every  day  life. 

And  again:  you  should  not  accept  as  truth  and  fact. 


182  IS  CHRISTIANITY  A  FAILURE? 

anything  whatever,  just  because  Jesus  said  it,  or  because 
he  is  said  to  have  said  it.  It  should  look  reasonable  to 
you  or  you  should  discard  it,  even  as  you  accept  or  dis- 
card what  I  am  telling  you.  If  you  do  not  follow  your 
reason  in  all  matters  you  voluntarily  place  yourself  on 
a  plane  with  the  lower  animals. 

You  should  not  accept  a  statement  as  fact,  that  seems 
unreasonable  to  you,  just  because  a  president,  a  judge,  a 
minester  or  Jesus  said  it  to  be  true.  Jesus  could  not 
have  said  all  that  he  is  said  to  have  said  and  still  have 
been  sane.  But  he  said  so  many  things  that  are  the 
essence  of  wisdom,  we  have  a  right  to  believe  that  he 
did  not  say  the  many  foolish  and  vicious  things 
attributed  to  him.  It  is  also  possible  that  he  never  said 
the  wise  sayings,  but  it  should  make  but  little  difference 
to  us  who  spoke  the  wise  words.  Personality  should 
not  add  weight  to  wise  words., 

You  people  who  worship  Jesus  as  a  god,  lose  the 
effect  of  his  manly  wisdom.  The  tinsel  glitter  of  his 
supposed  divinity,  blinds  you  so  you  can  se*  nothing 
else.  It  keeps  you  from  seeing  wrongs  we  are  suffering 
from.  Your  attention  is  centered  on  yourself  and  the 
mythical  Jesus.  We  need  a  church  that  does  not  teach 
this  fable  but  which  will  teach  wordly  knowledge  that 
is  worth  while.  A  church  where  all  such  questions  can 
be  talked  over  in  a  religious  manner.  Where  all  people, 
of  various  ideas,  can  exchange  views  and  learn  from  one 
another,  uninfluenced  by  politics,  religion  or  selfish 
motives.  A  place  where  "people"  meet,  not  where  Dem- 
ocrats, Republicans,  Protestants  or  Catholics  meet. 
These  great  questions  are  for  the  "people"  to  settle,  not 
for  any  particular  party,  clique  or  clan  to  settle  and  we 
need  a  Church  of  the  People,  in  the  broader  sense  of 
the  word,  to  aid  us.  The  Christian  church  is  not  equal 
to  the  occasion;  it  is  too  narrow  and  selfish  to  take  in 
all  of  humanity  unless  all  of  humanity  believes  just  what 
it  tells  all  of  humanity  to  believe. 

The  Christian  church  is  the  church  of  a  man-made 


IS  CHRISTIANITY  A  FAILURE?  183 

god,  a  mythical  Goliath  that  has  come  swaggering  down 
through  the  centuries  to  us  with  the  cross,  a  symbol  of 
murder,  in  one  hand,  and  the  sword,  an  emblem  of  war 
and  destruction,  in  the  other  hand,  while  on  his  cruel 
lips  are  the  horrible  words  "Believe  or  be  damned," — 
"Depart  ye  into  everlasting  hell  fire," — scattering  terror 
and  gloom  among  children,  and  fear  and  hyprocracy 
among  ignorant  and  superstitious  men  and  woman; 
making  war  on  science,  truth  and  justice;  leaving  a 
bloody  trail  strewn  with  the  bodies  of  burned  witches, 
slandered  scientists  and  outraged  thinkers.  Followed 
and  supported  by  priests  and  money  changers  who  fatten 
on  the  misfortune  and  slavery  of  those  who  dare  not 
think,  because  of  the  presence  of  this  hideous  man-made 
monster  who  dwells  between  the  covers  of  our  supposed 
"word  of  god."  While  far  in  the  rear  we  faintly  see  the 
pathetic  figure  of  the  "Man  of  Sorrows,"  trudging  along 
bare-headed  and  barefooted,  carrying  the  sins  of  billions 
of  unthinking,  selfish  Christians,  mumbling  the  words: 
"Peace  be  unto  you"  "Forgive  them  for  they  know  not 
what  they  do," — wearing  a  crown  of  thorns  with  a 
ghastly  wound  in  his  side,  out  of  which  pours  blood 
enough  to  wash  a  dirty  world  whiter  than  snow. 
Slandered,  persecuted  and  murdered  by  Jews  and  Ro- 
mans after  having  been  double-crossed  by  the  man-made 
god  who  professes  piety  but  spits  hell-fire  at  all  who 
oppose  him,  and  enslaves  all  who  follow  him. 

This  man-made  Christian  Goliath  must  be  met  and 
slain.  Education  is  the  David  that  will  use  the  stone  of 
reason  in  the  sling  of  fearless  thought  to  strike  the 
monster  down.  Then  humanity  can  march  forward  once 
more. 

The  two  Testaments  of  the  Christian  Bible  are  reli- 
gious "Siamese  Twins."  They  were  so  intimately  con- 
nected and  interwoven  by  their  authors  and  compilers  (an- 
cient priests)  that  they  cannot  be  separated  with  out  death 
to  heathen  Christianity. 

The  Old  Testament  teaches  all  kinds  of  slavery,  "white 


184  IS  CHRISTIANITY  A  FAILURE? 

slavery"  included.     It  teaches  dishonesty,  murder  and  war. 

The  New  Testament  teaches  and  approves  of  murder, 
as  divine,  and  asks  all  of  humanity  to  sanction  it  and  drink 
blood  derived  from  the  murder  of  an  innocent  man. 

The  Bible  may  be  the  word  of  the  Christian  God,  but  it 
certainly  is  not  the  word  of  the  Supreme  Creator,  Ruler 
and  Sustainer  of  All. 

Christians  profess  to  believe  that  the  brutal  killiner  of 
Jesus  on  the  cross,  was  "divine"  murder.  To  me  there 
is  no  such  a  thing  as  "divine"  murder.  I  claim  that  it 
is  just  as  inspiring  to  watch  a  Turk  murder  an  Armenian 
as  it  is  to  watch  a  Christian  burn  a  witch  at  the  stake,  or 
to  see  the  Jews  kill  a  god  on  the  cross,  or  to  see  an  Apache 
kill  a  white  man  or  a  robber  shoot  down  a  law  abiding  citi- 
zen. All  such  acts  appear  to  me  to  be  cold  blooded  mur- 
der, and  I  refuse  to  take  a  benefit  from  any  such  incident, 
either  here  on  earth  below  or  in  heaven  above. 

Yes,  I  realize  that  I  am  peculiar,  judged  from  a  Chris- 
tian standpoint.  My  moral  education  was  neglected  in 
childhood.  There  were  no  priests  or  preachers  around  to 
train  my  mentality  to  turn  religious  somersaults.  In  time 
I  may  progress  up  to  the  point  where  I  can  distinguish 
between  "divine"  murder  committed  by  Christians  and  their 
god,  and  heathen  murder,  committed  by  burglars,  highway- 
men, Turks,  Japs  and  their  gods.  At  present  my  educa- 
tion will  not  allow  me  to  distinguish  the  difference. 

I  do  not  think  that  Christians  have  a  right  to  call  Turks 
and  Japs,  "heathens."  Neither  do  I  think  it  is  right  for 
the  Turks  to  refer  to  the  followers  of  the  mythical  Jesus 
as  "Christian  dogs."  This  is  not  nice  and  many  times  it  is 
an  injustice  to  the  dog,  especially  when  the  Christian  hap- 
pens to  be  a  brutal  man  who  has  just  killed  a  beautiful 
young  girl  (after  getting  her  drunk)  because  he  "liked" 
her. 

A  Turk  should  have  his  rights,  a  Christian  should  have 
his  rights  and  a  dog  should  have  his  rights.  All  are  God's 
children,  even  the  dog. 

There  are  no  heathens  in  the  sight  of  the  Almighty, 


IS  CHRISTIANITY  A  FAILURE?  185 

and  no  one  but  a  bigot  will  claim  that  there  are.  God 
made  all  and  evidently  loves  all.  A  Christian  is  just  as 
good  as  a  Turk  or  Jap  when  they  all  behave  themselves, 
no  better,  no  worse,  and  a  dog  is  better  than  either  when 
he  behaves  himself  and  the  Christian,  Turk  and  Jap,  lie, 
steal,  murder  and  debauch. 

The  church  influence  is  necesary  in  a  high  state  of 
civilization,  but  it  should  be  educative  as  well  as  re- 
fining. 

At  present  there  is  no  church  broad  enough  for  in- 
telligent, progressive,  thinking  people  to  join,  that  I 
know  of.  Many  such  people  belong  to  ,'our  present 
churches  simply  because  they  cannot  do  without  the 
church  influence  even  though  it  contains  much  that  such 
people  cannot  accept,  while  there  are  many  intelligent 
and  moral  people  who  never  attend  our  present  churches 
who  would  gladly  frequent  a  church  that  did  not  teach 
salvation  through  ancient  murder  on  the  cross  com- 
mitted by  brutal  men  and  instigated  by  a  traitorous 
man-made  god  who  double-crossed  his  own  son. 

We  need  a  church  that  can  and  will  collect  the  in- 
telligent and  thoughtful  people  together  where  they  can 
work  collectively  for  human  betterment.  Leaving  the 
ignorant  and  superstitious  alone  in  their  present  or- 
ganizations until  they  progress  out  of  them. 

If  such  churches  were  properly  started  they  would 
draw  heavily  from  all  existing  churches,  as  well  as  from 
the  ranks  of  non-church  members,  as  a  majority  of 
people  are  intelligent  and  progressive  under  proper  lead- 
ership. Such  people  will  not  accept  salvation  through 
any  scheme  or  plan  that  does  not  include  good  thoughts, 
good  acts  and  a  pesistent  striving  to  climb  higher  in 
morality,  knowledge  and  usefulness.  They  expect  salva- 
tion through  evolution ;  as  a  tree  or  flower  grows  to  per- 
fection; as  a  child  grows  from  helplessness  to  strength 
and  beauty. 

Such  is  the  road  to  heaven  and  the  only  road  by 
which  it  can  be  reached.  All  other  roads  lead  to  failure. 


186  IS  CHRISTIANITY  A  FAILURE? 

We  need  a  church  of  the  people.  A  church  that  scatters 
knowledge,  teaches  duty  and  gives  pleasure,  while  ad- 
vising temperance  in  all  things,  a  church  of  common 
sense. 

No  one  has  a  moral  right  to  say  that  he  or  she  is  a 
Christian  or  is  not  a  Christian  until  they  have  thoroughly 
read  and  sudied  the  Bible  and  know  of  their  own  per- 
sonal knowledge,  gathered  from  research,  thought  and 
deep  study  of  the  Bible,  as  well  as  investigating-  what 
others  say  of  the  Bible  and  Christianity-  so  they  may 
weigh  and  consider  in  an  impartial  manner,  regardless 
of  their  bringing  up,  of  what  their  father  thought,  their 
mother  thought  or  what  anyone  else  thought.  Thinking 
a  thing  does  not  necessarily  make  it  a  truth  and  we 
should  be  careful  about  accepting  anything  as  truth  that 
cannot  be  verified  some  other  way  than  by  ignorant  pre- 
judice. No  one  has  a  right  to  say  that  he  is  a  Democrat 
or  a  Christian  unless  he  can  give  a  reasonable  reason  to 
himself  for  the  assertion.  He  need  not  necessarily  give 
anyone  else  a  reason  unless  he  cares  to. 

The  point  is,  we  should  be  honest  with  ourselves  and 
not  fool  ourselves  or  let  people  who  are  continually  fool- 
ing themselves,  fool  us  too. 

As  a  general  rule  I  find  that  the  persons  I  talk  with 
on  religious  matters  who  say  the  most  emphatically 
that  they  believe  in  the  Bible*  every  word  of  it,  are  the 
people  that  know  the  lease  of  the  Bible,  of  the  words  of 
the  Bible.  They  have  read  it  the  least  and  thought  on 
it  the  least.  All  they  know  of  it  they  have  learned  by 
hearing  others  talk  about  it.  And  this  is  a  poor  wav  to 
learn  about  anything  that  is  of  such  easy  access  as  the 
Bible.  The  Bible  should  be  studied  by  all  as  they  would 
study  a  school  book  and  before  they  do  this  no  one  but 
an  insane  person  has  a  right  to  say  he  believes  in  the 
Bible.  But  most  Christians  do  it. 

I  am  certain  that  I  have  a  stronger  healthier  belief 
in  God  and  Jesus,  than  any  pale  faced  man  who  ever 
traded  "religious  belief"  for  gold. 


POEMS 


BE  RELIGIOUS,  TRULY  SO 

Look  for  God  in  everything; 
Countless  worlds  His  praises  sing — 
Not  in  church  and  books  alone, 
Authors  of  which  are  unknown. 

Let  no  man-made  god  or  creed, 
Sway  your  judgment  like  a  reed; 
Let  no  priest  or  prophet  bold, 
Trade  religion  for  your  gold. 

He  who  peddles  sacred  things, 
For  the  little  coin  it  brings, 
Should  be  shunned  by  all  mankind, 
As  a  robber  of  the  blind. 

We're  not  here  for  God  to  curse, 
Make  your  church  the  Universe. 
"He  Who  notes  the  sparrows  fall," 
Surely  will  regard  us  all. 

Let  the  simple  have  their  creeds, 
Say  their  prayers  and  count  their  beads, 
Hug  a  charm  or  worship  Sun ; 
Time  will  broaden  everyone. 

Superstitions  are  for  those 
In   their  infant   mental   clothes; 
Have  compassion  for  their  view, 
Something  grander  beckons  you. 

Be  religious,  truly  so, 
Worship  where  the  lilies  grow, 
'Mid  the  fields  and  forest  trees; 
Words  of  God,  are  all  of  these. 


188  IS  CHRISTIANITY  A  FAILURE? 


WHEN  JESUS  DIED  ON  CALVARY 

When  Jesus  cried  on  Calvary 

"My  God,  my  God,  Oh,  why  hast  Thou  forsaken  me  ?" 

He  sent  a  shudder  down  through  time, 

Together  with  a  thought  sublime, 

And  men  will  pause  to  hear  it  told, 

To  hang  their  heads  in  shame,  in  deep  disgrace, 

Because  of  crime,  stupendous  crime, 

On  Calvary,  in  olden  time, 

Committed  by  the  human  race. 

The  wail  of  one  who  suffered  so, 

At  hands  of  brutal  men,  who  dealt  a,  vicious  blow. 

A  death  by  hands  of  demons  blind ; 

A  living  death  for  one  so  kind. 

While  all  above  seemed  black  as  night, 

There  on  the  cross  'twixt  life  and  death  he  hung; 

And  all  below,  for  him  was  worse, — 

High  heaven  seemed  this  man  to  curse, 

While  from  the  cross  his  body  swung. 

Taunted  by  jeers  of  men  who  hate — 

Of  low-born  men,  his  God  did  seem  to  approbate. 

So  helpless,  and  forlorn,  in  pain, 

A  target  for  the  rude,  insane. 

And  all  for  what?     Because  he  loved. 

He  never  paused  to  count  the  cost, 

He  gave  us  all  that  he  could  give ; 

No  grander  man  on  earth  could  live. 

To  him  it  seemed  that  all  was  lost. 


IS  CHRISTIANITY  A  FAILURE:  189 

And  then  the  cry,  pathetic  plea: 

"My  God,  my  God,  Oh  why  hast  Thou  forsaken  me?" 

That  awful  cry,  that  did  immortalize  a  crime 

That  killed  a  man  just  in  his  prime. 

While  brother  men  his  blood  did  spill, 

He  seemed  to  little  care,  for  earthly  rod. 

He  ask  not  why  the  punishment 

From  earth  below,  to  him  was  sent, 

But  why  the  lack  of  thought,  by  God. 

Then  came  the  cry  of  wounded  love, 

From  troubled  soul  below,  unto  his  God  above. 

One  prayer,  one  question  then  had  he, 

Just  one  heartbreaking  thought  and  plea; 

All  other  torment  seemed  as  naught. 

No  earthly  hurt  caused  him  to  pray; 

This  was  the  thorn  that  did  chastise. 

He  thinks  of  God  alone,  and  dies 

And  goes  to  God,  e'en  though  He  slay. 

He  ne'er  complained  of  mortal  pain, 

Because  of  wounds,  of  loss  of  friends,  or  men  profane. 

And  while  he  suffered  all,  unmoved, 

He  saw  not  why  his  God  approved 

His  awful  fate  and  suffering. 

Just  as  his  spirit  poised  to  take  its  flight, 

He  thought  his  God  did  him  forsake. 

Then  from  the  heart  about  to  break, 

A  cry  from  out  the  darkest  night. 

A  troubled  world  in  agony, 

Repeats  the  cry  on  Calvary: 

"My  God,  My  God,  Oh  why  hast  Thou  forsaken  me?" 

A  pause,  and  from  infinity, 

To  vibrate  through  eternity, 

The  echo  comes,  and  in  its  train 

We  hear  the  answering  refrain: 

"Forsaken  me  !    Forsaken  me ! 

My  People  hath  forsaken  Me." 


190  IS  CHRISTIANITY  A  FAILURE? 

THE  HOUSE  OF  GOD 

The  house  of  God  is  open  air 

And  every  day  the  time  for  prayer, 

One  constant  and  intense  desire 

To  do  our  best  and  climb  up  higher. 

Those  piles  of  timber,  brick  and  stone 
Were  built  by  man  for  man  alone ; 
God  needs  no  houses  such  as  these 
Man  builds,  himself  alone  to  please. 

Jesus  preached,  where  e'er  he  chanced  to  be, 
On  mountain  top  or  near  the  sea, 
To  beggar,  prince,  or  those  who'd  care 
To  hear  him  in  the  open  air. 

In  synagogues  he'd  talk  as  well 
Most  any  place  he'd  stop  to  tell 
The  story  of  his  trip  to  earth, 
To  preach  to  man  of  second  birth. 

He  warned  'gainst  mansions  here  below, 
He  scorned  the  use  of  wealth  for  show, 
And  were  he  here,  he  would  condemn 
Our  present  churches,  most  of  them. 

I'm  sure  that  he  would  advocate 
A  church  of  man  right  down  to  date ; 
Where  things  worth  while  are  daily  told 
Instead  of  fairy  tales  of  old. 


THE  WORD  OF  GOD 

The  word  of  God  is  all  creation, 
The  Universe  true  revelation; 
And  day  by  day,  as  time  goes  by 
Proclaims  the  will  of  Him  on  high. 
No  human  book  or  speech  could  tell 
The  power  of  God  one  half  so  well. 


IS  CHRISTIANITY  A  FAILURE?  191 

The  word  of  God  is  everywhere, 

In  every  flower  and  stone, 

On  land,  in  sea  and  in  the  air; 

God  speaks  in  works  alone, 

To  all  but  bigot  with  his,  creed, 

A  universal  language  grand, 

So  all  mankind  can  see  and  read, 

And  reading,  understand. 

Oh,  superstitious  ignorance, 

The  world's  colossal  curse, 

You  haunt  our  thoughts,  contract  our  souls 

And  dwarf  our  concept  of  the  Universe. 


STAND  ERECT 

Stand  erect,  for  all  is  well; 

God  is  not  God  if  there's  a  hell. 

Then  stand  erect,  look  straight  ahead  with  thoughts 

above, 

For  God  is  not  God.  if  He  is  not  Love. 
Cower  not  before  the  throne 
Of  man-made  god  or  priestly  drone. 
Stand  erect,  salute  on  high 
The  Unknown  God  beyond  the  sky. 
Go  straight  to  God,  Himself,  in  thought, 
What  mortals  tell  of  God,  you  count  as  naught. 
Let  no  priest's  or  preacher's  shadow  dim 
Your  rays  of  love  that  come  from  Him. 
For  He  who  guides  the  flight  of  birds, 
Will  guide  our  steps,  and  not  by  words. 
He  speaks  to  us  more  positive ; 
Through  conscience  He  will  daily  give, 
Instructions  that  are  understood 
By  all  a  striving  to  be  good. 


192  IS  CHRISTIANITY  A  FAILURE? 

GOD'S  HOLY  DAY 

If  God  had  meant  some  special  day 

For  us  to  keep  on  earth, 
He'd  call  a  halt  in  everything, 

In  death  as  well  as  birth. 
He'd  never  let  a  child  be  born, 

Or  let  a  human  die, 
On  sacred  day  He  set  apart 

For  us-  to  pray  and  sigh. 

He'd  never  let  the  buds  on  trees 

Develop  into  bloom, 
He'd  never  let  the  grasses  grow 

On  day  of  priestly  gloom ; 
He'd  never  let  the  birdies  sing 

Upon  his  holy  day, 
He'd  never  let  them  build  a  nest, 

He'd  make  them  kneel  and  pray. 

He'd  never  let  the  sun  shine  bright 

And  gentle  breezes  blow, 
He'd  make  the  day  as  dark  as  night 

So  nothing  then  could  grow, 
He'd  fix  it  so  we'd  understand 

And  so  we'd  have  to  rest, 
He'd  make  it  known  throughout  the  land 

The  day  that  he  had  blest 

He  would  have  told  his  "only  son," 

To  keep  the  Sabbath  day, 
In  language  so  that  not  a  one 

Could  ever  go  astray. 
For  Jesus  seemed  not  to  have  known 

Of  God's  most  holy  day, 
Because  he  never  did  postpone 

His  work,  and  stop  to  pray. 


IS  CHRISTIANITY  A  FAILURE?  193 

If  neighbors  ox  was  in  the  mire 

He'd  help  him  then  and  there, 
While  never  stopping  to  inquire, 

What  day;  he  did  not  care. 
The  Pharisees  would  Jesus  slap 

For  Sabbath  work  he  did, 
But  Jesus  never  cared  a  rap 

How  much  they  closed  the  lid. 

God's  Holy  Day,  is  every  day; 

The  Sabbath  is  a  pious  fraud, 
Thought  out  by  priestly  man, 

Himself,  not  God,  to  laud. 
For  profit,  power,  wordly  gain, 

A  child  of  superstition  and  its  mates. 
Jesus  never  taught  such  nonsense, 

But  was  murdered  by  it's  advocates. 


PRESUMPTIOUS  MORTALS 

Think  ye  not  that  God  created 

This  Universe  and  all  therein, 

For  the  express  purpose  that  you,  a  weakling, 

Might  err  and  then  confess:  your  sin; 

Be  redeemed  by  the  slaughter  of  God's  only  Son, 

Who  ne'er  committed  wrong, 

And  through  his  pain 

Be  made  as  pure  as  drifted  snow, 

And  then  pass  on  to  God  again. 

How  presumptious  mortal  man  can  be 

When  contemplating  immortality. 

****** 

If  God  is  God,  then  his  commands  must  be  obeyed. 
The  most  important  seems  us  all  to  bind 
And  elevate,  though  far  away  we've  strayed. 
Real  piety  is  only  shown  in  service  for  mankind. 


194  IS  CHRISTIANITY  A  FAILURE? 

RELIGION 

All  religions  teach  some  truth, 

And  every  one  deceives, 

For  they  are  nothing  more  than  this : 

What  mortal  man  believes. 

And  men  are  wrong  more  times  than  they 

Are  ever  right,  by  far, 

When  telling  us  about  some  god; 

The  past  has  proved  they  are. 

No  mortal  man  can  comprehend 
God's  Body  or  His  Mind ; 
And  when  a  mortal  says  he  can, 
You'll  find  him  mental,  blind; 
A  silly  weakling  boasting  some, 
A  man  who  reason  kills, 
Who  makes  a  living  by  his  wits, 
While  you  just  pay  his  bills. 

Revealed  religion  comes  from  dreams, 

Vague  dreams'  of  little  worth ; 

A  poor  foundation  for  belief 

Of  anything  on  earth. 

A  true  religion  will  be  based 

On  day  light,  wakeful  thought, 

Instead  of  on  some  misty  dream, 

A  drowsy  brain  has  caught. 


THE  CHRISTIAN  PADLOCK. 

In  any  Christian  Nation,  where  you  may  chance  to  roam 
You'll  find  the  Christian  padlock  to  guard  the  Chris- 
tian home. 

And  not  from  foreign  heathens,  not  much,  at  any  rate 
But  from  the  Christian  product  of  that  same  Chris- 
tian State. 


IS  CHRISTIANITY  A  FAILURE?  195 

"THE  FALL  OF  MAN" 

Some  forty  centuries  ago, 

A  poet  thought  he'd  like  to  know 
Just  why  the  human  race  should  be 

In  want,  in  sin,  in  misery. 

For  all  about  him  seemed  to  say, 

Man  sometime  must  have  gone  astray. 
All  else,  save  man,  it  seems  to  me, 

Is  universal  harmony. 

While  man  in  discord,  seems  to  grow, 

God  surely  did  not  make  him  so. 
Man  has  fallen,  no  other  way 

To  cause  what  we  all  see  to-day. 

For  God  Himself  would  never  will 

This  earth  to  be,  then  straightway  fill 
It  full  of  want  and  misery, 

To  last  throughout  eternity. 

The  pious  poet  thought  it  out, 

To  him  it  seemed  without  a  doubt, 
That  nothing  but  the  "fall  of  man" 

Could  interfere  with  God's  great  plan. 

He  placed  his  thoughts  on  parchment  scroll 

To  which  we  now  pay  mental  toll, 
Those  ancient  thoughts  are  naught  but  this: 

A  part  of  Bible  Genesis. 

While  later  poets  tried  to  save 

Humanity  from  endless  grave, 
Caused  by  the  ancient  poet's  plan: 

The  visionary  "fall  of  man." 

Naught,  but  a  saviour  seemed  to  be, 

The  way  to  save  humanity. 
Poetic  nothingness,  the  scheme, 
Just  resting  on  a  poets  dream; 


196  IS  CHRISTIANITY  A  FAILURE? 

For  dozing  mortals  to  partake, 
Not  for  the  living,  wide  awake. 

For  lazy  minds  that  dare  not  think, 
For  cowards  too,  who  dodge  and  blink. 

The  rise  of  man,  a  thought  sublime. 
Inspiring  hope   throughout  all  time. 

The  "fall  of  man,"  there's  nothing  worse, 
Depressing  thought,  a  man-made  curse 

That  'round  our  necks  the  dead  have  hung, 

The  tune,  poetic  ancients  sung, 
And  we  unthinking  chant  the  song, 

And  thereby  aid  a  common  wrong. 

How  foolish  we,  to  thus  presume 

And  through  the  ages,  scatter  gloom. 

The  rise  of  man,  a  thought  sublime ; 
The  "fall  of  man,"  religious  crime. 


THE  MAN  WITH  A  PRAYER 

and 
THE  MAN  WITH  AN  OATH 

The  real  God  is  one  God,  not  three,  six  or  seven. 

He  lives  here  on  earth  as  much  as  in  heaven ; 
He's  God  of  the  Heathen,  the  Christian,  the  Jew, 

He's  God  of  all  men  that  God  ever  knew. 

He  did  not  establish  a  church  with  a  creed, 

He  knows  what  we  want  and  he  knows  what  we  need. 

Our  prayers  never  move  Him  towards  us,  one  mite, 
They  lift  but  ourselves  towards  God  and  the  right 

While  some  may  not  know  it,  He's  God  in  His  place 
And  what  men  "believe,"  does  not  alter  the  case. 

He  brings  us  on  earth  and  he  passes  us  on, 
Everything  moves,  whether  we're  here  or  gone. 


IS  CHRISTIANITY  A  FAILURE?  197 

The  Heathen  and  Christian  are  treated  the  same ; 

Born  alike,  die  alike,  play  the  same  game; 
The  sunshine  and  rain  are  showered  on  both, 

The  man  with  a  prayer  and  the  man  with  an  oath. 

And  he  is  a  bigot,  unworthy  God's  love, 

Who  thinks  himself  chosen  as  God's  little  dove, 

The  man  with,  a  prayer  and  the  man  with  an  oath 
Are  truly  God's  children;  it's  a  matter  of  growth. 


THE  CROSS 
A  Symbol  of  a  Crime. 

Just  think  of  Jesus  as  a  man 
And  that  is  quite  enough. 
A  man  of  men — red-blooded  men, — 
That  brutes  once  handled  rough. 
A  man  who  tried  to  aid  mankind 
And  show  them  greater  worth. 
A  man,  just  man,  most  noble  man; 
The  grandest  man  of  earth. 

And  not  as  god,  a  man-made  god, 

Who  asked  his  Father  why; 

Who  prayed  to  God  with  his  last  breath, 

Who  hopelessly  did  cry, 

And  asked  God  why  He  should  forsake 

His  faithful  son  so  weak. 

For  those  were  words  of  man  alone — 

No  God  such  words  would  speak. 

Twas  man,  not  God  upon  the  cross 

That  hung  forlorn  and  sad. 

For  God,  of  God,  would  never  ask 

Why  God,  forsaken  had. 

For  us  to  think  that  it  was  God, 

Belittles  God  on  high, 

To  let  his  creatures  murder  Him 

And  cause  Him  thus  to  cry. 


198  IS  CHRISTIANITY  A  FAILURE? 

While  Jesus  too,  we  slander  much, 

And  kill  his  power  for  good 

Among  the  thinking  ones  of  earth. 

Believe,  they  never  could, 

That  through  the  blood  of  Gods  we  mount, 

To  homes  up  in  the  sky, 

That  God  must  kill  another  God, 

Or  else  we  all  must  die. 


The  thought  that  asks  or  would  accept 

Another  one  to  die, 

To  pay  in  full  your  sinful  debts 

While  you  in  comfort  lie, 

Is  selfish  thought  of  lowest  grade, 

Is  cowardly  as  well, 

Will  hold  you  down  from  heavens  gates 

Will  draw  you  nearer  hell. 


For  if  you  would  not  gladly  give 

Your  life  or  part  of  it, 

You  should  not  selfishly  expect 

To  take  a  benefit 

As  roman  soldiers  did  of  old. 

From  death  they  asked  for  pay, 

By  casting  lots  for  raiment  worn, 

You  ask  for  more  than  they. 


You  ask,  and  claim,  eternal  bliss, 
Through  death  of  murdered  man. 
The  Romans  got  just  all  they  could, 
You're  getting  all  you  can.  , 

Now  he  who  would  accept  or  ask, 
So  much  through  awful  crime, 
Could*  not  be  worthy  of  the  gift, 
Of  bliss  throughout  all  time. 


IS  CHRISTIANITY  A  FAILURE?  199 

They  tell  you  that  it  is  God's  plan, 

That  murder  should  be  done, 

So  you  may  go  to  God  in  blood 

Of  pure  and  holy  one. 

They  lie  to  you,  they  slander  God, 

And  you  believe  because 

They  caught  you  young,  they  warped  your  mind, 

With  lies  about  God's  laws. 


And  you  believe,  yes,  you  believe 

'Cause  Mother  told  you  so. 

And  who  told  Mother  pray,  I  ask? 

Her  Mother,  yes  I  know. 

Who  told  Mothers'  Mothers'  Mother 

Way  down  the  distant  past? 

Some  priest,  of  ancient  brutal  time, 

We've  traced  it  down  at  last. 


For  error  started  will  attach 

And  gather  as  it  goes 

The  dust  of  ages,  mental  dust, 

And  thus  the  error  grows. 

While  you  accept  it  without  thought, 

From  unlearned  ancient  time, 

From  one  who  lived  on  mental  mould, 

When  thinking  was  a  crime. 


And  you  accept  because  with  ease, 

You  see  a  lazy  way 

To  enter  heaven,  leaving  debts 

For  some  one  else  to  pay. 

Just  load  your  sins,  a  billion  sins, 

On  back  of  man  so  true 

Your  brutal  man-made  god  did  kill, 

To  furnish  blood  for  you. 


200  IS  CHRISTIANITY  A  FAILURE? 

Oh,  heathen  Christians,  stop  and  think, 

Just  read  your  "book  of  books," 

Just  read  its  pages  through  and  through, 

And  then  see  how  it  looks 

To  you  in  light  of  modern  thought, 

Dealt  out  by  reasons  hand, 

Instead  of  sucking  mental  milk 

Of  ancient  scapegoat  brand. 


Salvation  coming  though  good  works, 

By  knowledge  gained  and  such, 

By  good  deeds  done  for  other  men; 

Take  some — but  give  them  much 

Of  lifes  best  things  while  here  on  earth, 

And  this  will  save  your  soul; 

For  evolution  is  God's  plan 

By  which  you  reach  your  goal. 


Quit  trying  hard  to  something  get 

For  which  you  do  not  give 

An  equal  portion  in  return, 

Which  is  no  way  to  live. 

By  praying  some  and  harder  work, 

This,  you  to  God  will  link, 

And  not  through  blood  of  murdered  one — 

Most  awful  thought  to  think. 


Your  selfishness  will  weigh  you  down, 

You  never  can  progress 

Until  you  offer  up  yourself 

To  others  in  distress; 

Upon  the  cross  of  blood  and  tears 

There  nailed  with  iron  pins, 

Yourself  to  suffer  and  to  die 

For  other  peoples'  sins. 


IS  CHRISTIANITY  A  FAILURE?  201 

God  did  not  write  "The  Word  of  God" 

'Twas  work  of  priestly  man, 

Who  wrote  the  book  and  then  he  said: 

"This,  is   God's   holy  plan." 

First  holy  man,  then  "fall  of  man" 

Then  holy  birth  of  man, 

To  save  us  all  from  certain  death, 

Then  holy  murder  plan. 


That  ancient  mother  was  misled, 

The  lie  came  down  through  time, 

And  fed  upon  gross  ignorance, 

On  silly  mental  slime, 

They  fooled  the  ancient  mother  then, 

Who  dared  not  reason  much, 

She  feared  the  stake  that  always  burned, 

For  reason,  thought  and  such. 


A  man-made  Christian  god  we  have, 

That  priests  have  made  alone. 

And  when  we  try  to  free  ourselves, 

The  priests  will  loudly  moan. 

The  priests  their  daily  bread  receive 

From  superstitious  wrong, 

Of  course  they'll  fight  if  we  should  try 

To  stop  their  ancient  song. 


They  say  that  we  the  devil  serve, 
While  they  are  pure  as  snow, 
And  holy  as  an  angel  is ; 
That  all  should  see  and  know. 
But  just  the  same,  you  mark  my  word, 
They'll  make  you  pay  them  well, 
While  coaxing  you  with  heaven's  prize, 
And  scaring  you  with  hell. 


202  IS  CHRISTIANITY  A  FAILURE? 

An  ancient  way  of  robbing  men, 

A  graft  as  old  as  time ; 

They  give  you  nothing  for  your  gold 

But  story  of  a  crime. 

They  dare  not  let  you  think  and  read, 

They  know  you'll  learn  too  much. 

They  cause  your  mind  to  lean  upon 

Their  little  mental  crutch. 


And  you  a  slave,  a  mental  slave, 

Are  loyal  as  a  dog; 

While  round  about  you  they  will  chant 

A  fearful  mental  fog. 

And  make  you  think  that  you  are  lost, 

If  you  from  them  do  stray, 

They'll  ex-communicate  you  then; 

You'll  start  for  hell  that  day. 


We  know  just  why  the  priests  made  hell 

To  send  you  there  to  stay, 

If  their  religion  you  refuse 

And  them  refuse  to  pay. 

To  them  it  is  a  business  scheme — 

They've  got  to  live  or  die ; 

And  they  had  rather  trade  "belief" 

Than  work  and  sweat  and  sigh. 


If  you  should  quit  your  trading  gold 
For  their  religious  thought, 
The  priests  would  have  to  go  to  work 
And  pay  for  what  they  bought. 
Their  coaxing  you  and  scaring  you, 
Just  makes  them  mental  boss; 
It  makes  you  weak  financially 
They  fatten  on  your  loss. 


IS  CHRISTIANITY  A  FAILURE?  203 

But  then,  you  too,  would  have  to  work, 

And  really  think  quite  deep ; 

With  your  religious  canned  goods  gone, 

You'd  miss  your  mental  sleep. 

Much  work  and  thought,  on  your  own  part 

This  lazy  system  saves. 

The  living  is  by  dead  men  ruled, 

While  lying  in  their  graves. 


Some  priests  are  saintly  and  refined, 
Are  sacrificing  too; 
Intimidated  by  the  church, 
"They  know  not  what  they  do." 
While  many  more  are  hyprocites, 
Not  serving  man  at  all; 
They  teach  no  truth,  but  error  spread 
That  causes  men  to  fall. 


They  hold  the  cross  above  their  heads, 

A  symbol  of  a  crime, 

And  falsely  teach  us  to  approve 

Of  murder,  as  sublime. 

They  juggle  with  a  mystery; 

The  victim's  sacred  name 

The  priests  absurdly  hide  behind; 

On  God,  they  place  the  blame. 


Oh,  woe  unto  ye  hypocrite, 
Ye  modern  publican, 
Ye  pharisee  and  scribes  that  sit 
And  cause  the  "fall  of  man," 
Instead  of  causing  him  to  rise 
By  honest  thought  and  work; 
You  bribe  him  with  a  tinsel  prize, 
You  teach  him  how  to  shirk. 


204  IS  CHRISTIANITY  A  FAILURE? 

You  teach  him  that  by  eating  flesh 

And  drinking  human  blood, 

That  he'll  be  made  as  pure  and  fresh 

As  snow  compared  with  mud. 

Such  "sacred"  trash  must  we  all  shun, 

And  look  on  God  on  high 

As  far  too  good  and  wise  a  One 

To  utter  such  a  lie. 


A  FRIEND  HAS  GONE 

A  friend  has  gone,  has  passed  away, 
Has  left  his  earthly  home  of  clay. 
He  took  a  road  we  all  must  take 
And  in  a  better  world  awake. 
While   we   in  error   say:  he   died; 
He  drifted  on  the  ebbing  tide, 
Far  out  upon  the  sea  of  life 
Beyond   the   reach   of   earthly   strife. 

Where  peace   and  rest  from   worldly  jars 
Will  soothe  his  soul  beyond  the  stars. 
We  should  not  cast  a  shadow  grim — 
By  thoughts  of  sorrow  here  for  him — 
Across  the  path  that  he  must  tread, 
The  path  of  those  whom  we  call  dead 
For  thoughts  are  things,  both  light  and  dark 
That  fly  like  arrows  to  a  mark. 

Send   thoughts   of   gladness   then   to  him, 

Instead  of  sadness  that  will  dim 

And   cloud  his   mental  atmosphere, 

We  all  should  send  him  kindly  cheer. 

We  too  will  soon  be  passing  on, 

Just  stop  to  rest  and  then  we're  gone. 

While  unattended  we  must  go 

Just  when,  or  where,  we  never  know. 


IS  CHRISTIANITY  A  FAILURE?  205 

And,  as  on  earth,  we  came  alone 
From  out  the  vast,  to  us,  unknown, 
The  road  from  life  to  life  is  dim, 
We   shut  our  eyes  and  trust  in  Him, 
While   silently,   alone   we    tread 
The  road  that's  traveled  by  the  dead. 
Just  why  'tis  so,  we  do  not  know, 
We  only  know  we  come  and  go. 

While   death   spreads  lonesomeness  behind, 
We   all  should  bravely  bear  in  mind, 
While   setting  sun  to  us   seems  night 
And  death  seems  like  day's  fading  light 
To  him   beyond,   the   absent  one, 
Death,  is  the  rising  of  the  sun ; 
The  road  we  travel  to  our  goal ; 
The  resurrection  of  the  soul. 


TRANSIENT 

Every   thing   is   transient, 

Especially  the  wrong; 
For  every  thing  in  time  to  come, 

Will  then  have  moved  along. 

Our  present  ills  and  pleasures, 

In  time  will  pass  away 
And  be  among  the  dead  and  gone 

Of  ancient  yesterday. 

But  while  our  pleasant  neighbors 

In  time  will  all  be  gone, 
The  bad  can't  stay  so  very  long 

For  time  just  moves  them  on. 

These  facts  should  make  us  patient; 

Should  make  us  more  content, 
To  try  and  do  the  best  we  can 

With  what  to  us  is  sent. 


206  IS  CHRISTIANITY  A  FAILURE? 

Now  while  we  are  a-moving 
And  soon  we  will  be  gone, 

We  should  be  moving  upward, 
As  well  as  moving  on. 


DEATH  IS  BIRTH 

All  life  is  spirit  shining  through 
And  animating  clay; 
The  body  never  really  lives, 
Must  therefore  pass  away. 
Our  mortal  eyes  cannot  behold 
The  new-born  one  from  earth ; 
The  part  of  death  we  see  and  know, 
Is  but  the  afterbirth. 

The  pallid  cheek,  the  glassy  eye, 
The  struggle  and  the  groan ; 
The  awful  lonesome  feeling  then, 
When  we  have  lost,  our  own. 
The  overcoat  the  spirit  wore, 
Lies  crumpled  at  our  feet; 
The  spirit  lives,  it  never  dies 
In  future  all  will  meet, 

We  should  not  superstitious  be ; 

Should  let  our  reason  reign 

And  sterilize  the  coat  with  fire, 

For  everybody's  gain. 

Tis  better  for  us  left  behind, 

And  those  of  higher  birth, 

As  well  as  helping  Nature  some 

To  purify  the  earth. 


IS  CHRISTIANITY  A  FAILURE?  207 

While  death  to  us  seems  misery, 

Our  vision  is  not  keen ; 

'Tis  but  the  shadow'  that  we  see 

The  substance  is  unseen. 

For  death  is  birth  to  higher  life; 

The  spirit  passes  on 

To  broader  spheres  of  usefulness ; 

The  real  has  come  and  gone. 

Yes,  death  is  hard  for  us  who  stay, 

But  good  for  those  who  go, 

And  we  should  calm  our  grief  and  say: 

"Thy  will  be  done,"  You  know. 

For  death  is  but  an  incident 

Of  life,  which  is  supreme; 

And  death  is  not  a  conqueror, 

But  ending  of  earth's  dream. 

Presumptious  then,  for  wisest  man 
To  criticise,  though  weakling  would; 
The  fact  that  death  is  for  us  all, 
Is  proof  enough,  that  death  is  good. 
The  Sun  in  time,  will  pass  away, 
The  stars  will  glow  and  then  decay, 
While  doom,  on  earth  will  place  its  seal; 
For  none,  but  spirit,  is  the  real. 


HEATHENS. 

Not  all  of  the  heathens  are  out  of  the  church 
Nor  all  of  the  saints  within, 

Some  use  the  church  as  a  cloak  to  hide 
Many  a  mammoth  sin. 


208  IS  CHRISTIANITY  A  FAILURE? 

WHITHER,  WHENCE  AND  WHY? 

Where  did  we  come  from  and  where  do  we  go, 
What  are  we  here  for,  does  any  one  know? 
We  come  with  a  cry  and  leave  with  a  groan, 
From  nothing  to  nowhere,  at  least  the  unknown. 
We  frolic  some,  sob  some,  and  then  we  are  gone. 
We  bring  nothing,  take  nothing  when  we  pass  on ; 
Excepting  experience  gathered  while  here, 
A  thing  of  great  value  for  which  we  pay  dear. 

Oh,  why  so  much  error,  injustice  and  strife, 
We  all  must  endure  in  such  a  short  life? 
There  must  be  a  reason  just  why  this  is  so, 
But  I  must  confess  that  I  really  don't  know. 
One  moment  happy,  the  next  moment  sad, 
One  moment  good  and  the  next  moment  bad. 
One  moment  haughty,  the  next  moment  plead, 
Now  we  have  plenty  and  then  we're  in  need. 

So  many  religions  and  all  of  them  right, 

To  make  us  believe  so,  their  advocates  fight, 

While  each  are  the  chosen  of  gods  they  have  made; 

All  others  are  heathens  they're  privileged  to  raid. 

Some  leave  a  record  of  blood  in  their  trail, 

While  some  murder  truth  and  science  assail, 

Some  are  the  weed  of  conceit  gone  to  seed, 

Some   crush   out  others   while  some   themselves  bleed. 

Your  reason,  they  tell  you,  just  lay  it  aside ; 

The  book  which  we  give  you  must  be  the  real  guide. 

If  we  ask  for  some  proof  to  show  they  are  right, 

They're  up  and  a  coming  already  to  fight. 

Each  true  to  the  teachings  received  when  a  child; 

Whether  Christian  or  Jew  or  Hottentot  wild 

And  scorning  all  other  beliefs  as  quite  vile, 

For  they  know  it  all,  that  is  all  that's  worth  while. 


IS  CHRISTIANITY  A  FAILURE?  209 

They  tell  us  to  bow  down  in  front  of  their  god 
Or  they'll  wish  us  in  jail,  or  under  the  sod, 
They  coax  us  with  heaven  and  threaten  with  hell, 
Till  just  what  to  do  then  one  hardly  can  tell. 
How  little  we  know  and  how  little  we  need. 
How  great  our  presumption,  colossal  our  greed ; 
There's  good  in  the  bad  and  there's  bad  in  the  best 
And  those  that  are  left  are  about  like  the  rest. 


INSPIRATION 

"The  Spirit  of  God"  is  moving  to-day 

O'er  the  waters  of  thought,  in  a  wonderful  way. 

Now  "Let  there  be  light,"  is  His  modern  command, 

And  true  inspiration  appears  in  our  land 

With  heavenly  earth  life,  a-coming  to  stay, 

If  all  are  as  willing  to  work  as  to  pray. 

Our  days  will  be  grander  than  ancient  grand  days, 

If  we  will  interpret  and  follow  God's  ways. 

We've  fallen  in  error,  where  teachers  have  led, 
Who  gave  us  a  stone  when  we  asked  them  for  bread ; 
We  sought  for  the  truth  but  they  gave  us  a  lie, 
And  now  they  must  suffer,  their  error  must  die, 
So  the  light  of  God's  truth  may  shine  here  again 
And  thaw  out  the  hearts  of  uncivilized  men; 
The  Almighty's  Hand  will  be  thrust  from  on  high 
To  tear  down  the  cobwebs  that  clutter  our  sky. 

The  cobwebs  of  custom,  the  cobwebs  of  thought, 
The  dust  catching  cobwebs  religion  has  taught ; 
The  mental  obstructions  that  lie  in  our  road, 
The  sins  of  the  dead  that  add  much  to  our  load, 
He'll  wash  from  our  earth  by  a  grand  mental  flood 
And  not  by  the  shedding  of  innocent  blood; 
By  armies  of  angels  to  show  us  the  way, 
For  God,  of  high  heaven,  is  with  us  to-day. 


210  IS  CHRISTIANITY  A  FAILURE? 

THE  AVERAGE  MAN 

When  common,  man  is  prospering, 
He's  then  a  most  important  thing; 

But  when  he's  down  and  out,  he's  then 
The  most  abused  of  luckless  men. 

When  he's  on  top  he'll  strut  and  say: 
My  intellect  made  me  this  way; 

But  when  he's  underneath  he'll  groan: 
"If  I  could  get  just  one  small  loan." 

When  he  has  power  to  do  some  good 
He  does  not  think  of  things  he  should, 

But  mostly  of  himself  he  thinks, 
At  higher  things  he  simply  blinks. 

Conceited,  proud,  and  cruel  too, 
A-doing  what  all  selfish  do, 

Until  misfortune  knocks  him  out 

And  makes  him  then  begin  to  doubt. 

Self  confidence  begins  to  go 
As  hard  becomes  his  row  to  hoe; 

Conceit  and  cruelty  depart 
And  leave  him  with  a  better  heart. 

But  generally  too  late  to  see 
Things  as  they  really  ought  to  be ; 

Alas,  too  late  for  him  to  do 

The  things  he  once  had  power  to. 

His  hellplessness  and  poverty 
Are  fine  to  make  him  really  see. 

But  should  he  chance  to  rise  again 
He'd  likely  not  remember  then. 

The  more  we  have,  the  more  we  know 
The  better  then  we  all  should  grow, 

The  less  conceited  we  should  be 
The  greater  our  prosperity. 


IS  CHRISTIANITY  A  FAILURE?  211 


WHAT'S  THE  USE? 

Sometimes  I  think  it  is  no  use 
To  strive  for  things  up  high 

That  we  should  try  to  be  content 
With  things  that  near  us  lie. 

Like  Solomon  of  old,  sometimes 

It  really  looks  to  me, 
That  everything  is  foolishness, 

That  "all  is  vanity". 

For  often  do  we  make  a  mess 
While  trying  hard  to  rise ; 

And  many  times  I  am  in  doubt, 
Which  course  was  really  wise. 

When  e'er  I  start  to  study  hard 
Just  to  improve  my  mind, 

And  over-do  a  little  mite, 

Why  then  I'm  nearly  blind. 

What  little  knowledge  I  have  gained 

Is  overshadowed  tall 
By  injured  health  and  uselessness, 

Which  makes  me  feel  so  small. 

But  this  may  be  the  thing  indeed 
That's  best  for  me  to  know; 

Use  temperance  in  everything; 
Make  haste  by  going  slow. 

For  he  who  claims  all,  vanity 
Condemns  himself  in  turn, 

And  anyone  who  knows  it  all, 
Has  little  chance  to  learn. 


212  IS  CHRISTIANITY  A  FAILURE r 

YOU'LL  NEVER  SAY  GOOD-BYE  TO  YOURSELF 

You'll  never  say  good-bye  to  yourself, 

Where  ever  you  go  you'll  be, 

And  carry  a  record  of  all  your  acts 

Plain  for  yourself  to  see. 

You'll  never  be  saying  good-bye  to  your  God, 

For  you  are  a  part  of  Him, 

A  mortal  image  of  God  Himself 

An  image  so  weak  and  dim. 

But  you  may  become  an  image  grand, 

An  image  as  bright  as  day, 

Instead  of  an  image  as  black  as  night 

That  lusts  to  maim  and  slay. 

You'll  never  be  fooling  yourself  or  God. 

Though  others  may  blinded  be, 

You'll  carry  a  record  upon  your  soul 

So  plain  for  your  God  to  see. 

You're  building  a  record  while  on  your  way 

No  saviour  can  change,  or  will ; 

A  record  that  blood  will  not  erase, 

No  matter  how  much  you  spill. 

A  record  that  nothing  but  your  own  love, 

Will  ever  correct,  in  time, 

For  no  one  can  save  you  but  yourself— 

By  turning  away  from  crime. 

You'll  never  progress  and  be  like  God, 

As  long  as  you're  fearing  truth, 

As  long  as  you  cling  to  musty  lies 

That  warped  your  trusting  youth. 

You'll  never  be  saying  good-bye  to  yourself, 

Wherever  you  go  you'll  be, 

And  carry  a  record  of  what  you  are, 

So  God  and  you  may  see. 


IS  CHRISTIANITY  A  FAILURE?  213 


STARE  DECISIS 

Stare  Decisis,  looking  backward ; 

'Tis  a  good  thing  now  and  then, 
But  'tis  dangerous  and  foolish 

In  the  hands  of  shallow  men. 

Always  turning  to  the  ancient, 
Old  and  musty  makes  him  meek; 

Has  to  look  up  other  judgments 
'Fore  he  even  dares  to  speak. 

Turns  his  back  upon  the  future, 
Overlooks  the  present  need, 

Stare  Desisis ;  retrograder, 
Anti-progress  is  your  creed. 

Had  the  men  you  claim  to  follow 
Done  the  same  as  you  today, 

Little  progress  we'd  be  making 
In  an  onward,  upward  way. 

Progress   glances   backward   only, 
Just  enough  to  scan  the  past, 

To  avoid  mistakes  and  blunders, 
Taking  care/  they  do  not  last. 

Xow  this  thing  of  doing  something 
Just  because  'twas  done  before, 

Does  not  seem  a  proper  reason 
Why  we  all  should  do  it  o'er. 

What  the  judges  of  the  past  said 
Should  be  sifted,  weighed  and  heard, 

As  an  aid  to  present  judgment, 
Never  as  the  final  word. 


214  IS  CHRISTIANITY  A  FAILURE? 


THE  DESERT  WILD 

Through  deserts  wild  I  love  to  stray, 
And  pitch  my  tent  at  close  of  day 
Beside  the  trail  that  led  me  there, 
And  spend  the  night  just  anywhere  ; 
Where  all  is  barren,  vast  and  grand, 
The  ancient,  dreaded  desert  land. 

I  love  to  watch  the  curling  smoke 
Ascend  and  spread  like  branching  oak, 
From  campfire  built  so  hastily; 
There  muse  of  past  and  is-to-be, 
As  dying  embers  fade  away, 
And  slowly  turn  to  ashes  gray. 

The  desert  wild  of  man's  affairs 

Is  city  street  sa  full  of  tares, 

Where  human  buds  so  pure  and  sweet 

Are  crushed  beneath  the  vilest  feet, 

Where  lust,  the  serpent  in  disguise, 

Haunts  brilliant  caves  where  virtue  dies. 

Where  roams  the  wolf  of  usury, 
While  seeking  prey  eternally; 
The  greatest  curse  of  modern  time, 
Producing  want  as  well  as  crime, 
His  food  is  blood,  and  tears  his  drink, 
His  weapons,  common  pen  and  ink. 

Where  one  will  lose  his  way  and  lie 

On  desert  sand  to  groan  and  die, 

A  thousand  souls  worse  fate  will  meet 

In  waves  of  sin  of  city  street; 

In  ebb  and  flow  of  human  crime, 

Upon  the  shore  of  earthly  Time. 


IS  CHRISTIANITY  A  FAILURE  r  215 

BABY  BLOSSOM 

Little   cherub  here  on  earth,  " 
Through  a  process  we  call  birth, 
Fresh  from  Hand  that  is  Divine, 
Proud  am  I  you're  partly  mine. 

Baby  Blossom,  flower  of  love, 
Wafted  here  from  up  above; 
Ray  of  light  from  Spirit  Sun; 
Greater  blessing  there  is  none. 

From  the  reservoir  of  life, 
To  this  never  ending  strife — 
Came  from  out  the  vast  unknown, 
Not  forever,  just  a  loan. 

As  the   moments   come  and   go, 
Like  the  lillies  you  will  grow, 
Blossom,   bloom,   then  wither,   go; 
Where,  oh  where,  we  do  not  know. 

Gold  and  silver,  diamonds  too, 
Are  but  trash  compared  with  you. 
And  we  all  wish  you  to  know, 
You  are  welcome,  doubly  so. 

While  you  journey  on  your  way, 
Count  as  holy  every  day. 
Carry  out  the  Golden  Rule 
While  you  tarry  here  in  school. 

All  are  here  to  learn  and  grow, 
Why  we  are  we  do  not  know. 
We  should  do  the  best  we  can 
To   uplift  our  fellow-man. 

When  we  give  a  helping  hand, 
We  begin  to  understand 
And  we  rise  above  the  sod, 
In  our  searching  after  God. 


216  IS  CHRISTIANITY  A  FAILURE? 

THE  LOST  MINE. 

Sitting  by  the  cheery  camp  fire, 
Ye   old  miner  tells  the  tale 
Of  the  Mono  lost  cement  mine 
'Tis  a  story  never  stale. 
How  they  found  it,  how  they  lost  it 
In  the  early  days  of  gold, 
This  enchanted  treasure  story 
By  the   miners   often  told. 

And  to  hunt  this  nature  treasure, 

Men  are  lured  from  year  to  year, 

To  the  high  Sierra  mountains 

For  the  native  gold  so  dear. 

Some  will  say  that  it  is  fable, 

Others  say  that  it  is  true 

And  will  tell  you  how  the  trav'lers 

Found  the  mine  while  passing  through. 

How  the  three  who   made  the  journey, 

Sole  survivors  of  their  train 

That    was   killed    by   savage    Redmen 

For  revenge  as  well  as  gain, 

How  they  rested  in  the   mountains, 

Found  the  rock  they  took  along, 

On  their  weary  western  journey; 

Ancient  pioneers   so   strong. 

How  misfortune   overtook  them, 
Seemed  to  hover  ever  nigh ; 
One  with  broken  leg  they  left  there, 
In  the   forest  wild  to  die. 
Later  on  another  sickened, 
Stopped  to  rest  and  still  is  there ; 
And   the   third   in   desperation, 
Stumbled  on,  he  knew  not  where. 


IS  CHRISTIANITY  A  FAILURE?  217 

How  in  time  his  journey  ended 
On  a   California   ranch, 
How  his  story  started  men  out, 
Searching  mountain,  gorge  and  branch, 
How  he  had  the  rock  to  prove  it 
But  his  steps  would  not  retrace, 
How  he  made  a  map  for  others, 
Told  them  where  to  find  the  place. 

How,  in  later  years  two  partners 
Thought  they  found  this  mine  again, 
Quarreled,  fought,  and  one  was  murdered, 
Then  the  other  went  insane. 
Lost  again  this  ancient  treasure ; 
But  each  year  mien  still  pursue; 
Winter  snows  will  end  the  searching, 
Summer  thaws,  the  search  renew. 

Up  among  the  "lodge  pole"  pine  trees, 
Where  the   skeleton  was  found, 
Near  the  trees  in  cluster  growing 
Is  supposed  to  be  the  ground 
Of  the  Mono  lost  cement  mine; 
Mine  of  mines,  yet  mystery 
For  so  many  people  searching; 
Ancient  mine  of  tragedy. 

In  the  waterfall,  the  spirit 
Of  the  dead  man  who  was  found 
At  the  foot  of  Mammoth  mountain, 
Dwells  by  day  the  year  around, 
But  when  evening  shadows  gather 
O'er  the  trees  with  ancient  mark  on, 
You  can  hear  a  wail  and  moaning 
And  the   stoutest  heart  will  hearken. 


218  IS  CHRISTIANITY  A  FAILURE? 


A  MISTAKE 

Since  first  their  little  boy  could  talk, 

And  understand, 
They  taught  him  love  of  gun. 
Before  he  hardly  learned  to  walk 
They  thought  it  grand, 
To  see  him  shoot  in  fun. 

They  taught  him  guns  were  made  to  kill. 

Unknowingly, 
They  stifled  the  superb, 
And  in  his  mind  they  did  instill 

The  cruelty 
That  now  they  try  to  curb. 

He  took  his  gun  to  bed  at  night 

And  dreamed  of  wrong; 
Of  shooting  birds  so  small, 
That  stopped  to  rest  while  on  their  flight; 

He  stilled  their  song; 
He  killed  them  one  and  all. 

He  saw  a  deer  before  him  start 

And  stop  in  fright. 
With  joy  he  drew  his  gun 
And  sent  a  bullet  through  its  heart — 

Oh,  happy  night; 
Great  laurels  he  had  won. 


IS  CHRISTIANITY  A  FAILURE?  219 

CHRISTMAS   TIME 

A  common  thing  this  time  o'  year 
To  see  so  many  full  of  cheer. 
It  seems  a  shame  to  mar  our  feast 
By  killing  any  harmless  beast. 

If  I  had  power  to  will  it  so 

I'd  let  all  harmless  creatures  go ; 

As  pleasure  I  abhor  to-  build 

On  flesh,  the  blood  of  which  Pve  spilled. 

Then  just  extend  the  noble  plan, 
Of  "peace  on  earth,  god  will  to  man;" 
We  should  include  the  beast  below; 
For  this  will  help  our  spirits  grow. 

Just  treat  as  sacred  all  of  life, 
And  help  to  stay  the  butchers  knife  ; 
With  no  one  eating  slaughtered  food 
We'll  rise  above  surroundings  crude. 

Our  race  will  come  to  it  in  time, 
As  we  progress  away  from  crime. 
Posterity  will  stand  aghast, 
And  name  our  age  the  "bloody  past." 

It  may  be  proper  now  and  then, 
To  kill  dumb  brutes,  as  well  as  men ; 
But  'tis  uncivilized  and  crude 
To  use  their  bodies  then  for  food. 

If  men  have  souls  surviving  death, 
Then  animals — you  may  depend — 
Have  just  the  same,  of  lower  kind, 
A  life,  a  soul  that  doth  ascend. 


220  IS  CHRISTIANITY  A  FAILURE: 

For  life  is  soul  and  nothing  more, 
Just  soul  a-moving  lifeless  clay. 
And  when  the  soul  leaves,  all  is  gone ; 
The  body's  part  is  death,  decay. 

Then  men  should  pause  and  think  awhile 
Before  they  use  a  gun  or  knife 
To  slaughter  just  because  they  can, 
Their  fellow  travelers  of  life. 

It  seems  a  shame  that  men  can't  go 
And  spend  a  little  time  in  play, 
Without  their  guns  and  fishing  rods, 
Without  their  instruments  to  slay. 

Oh,  brutal,  selfish  men  of  earth, 
Why  kill  and  torture  to  the  quick; 
Now  if  your  God  were  much  like  you, 
He'd  kill  you  just  to  see  you  kick.1 

What  sympathy  can  you  expect 
When  out  with  gun  or  fishing  rod, 
When  meeting  with  an  accident, 
For  help,  how  could  you  look  to  God? 

The  God  who  made  these  creatures  too, 
Some  other  purpose  they  must  fill 
Than  just  to  die;  their  souls  depart 
E'en  though  it  gives  you,  joyous  thrill. 

Your  false  religion  teaches  you, 
That  you  are  privileged  blood  to  spill; 
'Twas  made  by  other  brutal  men 
Who  loved  to  torment  and  to  kill. 


IS  CHRISTIANITY  A  FAILURE?  221 

THE  BIGOT 

Pray,  what  were  animals  made  for, 

If  not  for  me  to  eat? 
And  why  were  pretty  flowers  made? 

To  crush  beneath  my  feet. 

Why  all  this  vast  creation, 

If  not  for  me  alone? 
Am  I  not  all  important, 

Unto  the  great  Unknown? 

I  know  I  am,  unto  myself, 

A  wonder  to  behold ; 
Importance  is  my  essence — 

You're  dull  to  need  be  told. 


THE   COWARD 

You  take  the  life  you  cannot  give, 
From  brutes  that  do  no  ill, 

When  all  the  odds  are  on  your  side, 
You  wade  right  in  and  kill. 

I'm  sure  the  Lord  is  proud  of  you ; 

The  Lord  who  made  us  all, 
Who  knows  our  every  thought  and  act 

Who  notes  our  rise  or  fall. 

Just  stop  and  think  a  moment,  man, 
And  tell  us  why  you,  are? 

What  purpose  in  your  being  here 
On  earth  to  kill  and  mar? 


222  IS  CHRISTIANITY  A  FAILURE? 

WHERE  THE  GOLDEN  POPPIES  GROW. 

Way  out  in  Californ'a 
Where  the  Golden  poppies  grow 
Where  the  winter  sun  is  shining 
And  the  hills  are  all  aglow 
To  the  land  of  orange  blossoms 
There  is  where  I  long  to  go. 

When  the  eastern  snow  is  falling 

California  is  calling 

Then  my  heart  begins  its  yearning 

And  my  thoughts  are  ever  turning 

To  the  land  I  love  the  best 

To  the  sunshine  of  the  west. 


LAND  OF  WINTER  SUNSHINE 

At  the  foot  of  Signal  Mountain 
Mighty  things  are  being  done, 
Man  'gainst  adverse  Nature  fighting, 
Victories  are  being  won. 
In  a  land  of  winter  sunshine, 
On  the  plains  of  little1  rain, 
Men  are  carving  out  an  empire 
Turning  barrenness  to  gain. 

Like  sphinx  old  Signal  Mountain 
Towers  high  above  it  all, 
Watching  ever  o'er  the  valley 
As  its  fortunes  rise  and  fall. 
And  if  mountains  could  but  tell  us 
Of  the  dim  an'  distant  past 
What  an  interesting  story 
This  would  be  from  first  to  last. 


IS  CHRISTIANITY  A  FAILURE?  223 

Of  the  magic  transformation 

In  this  California  Nile, 

What  a  contrast  from  the  present 

Was  that  prehistoric  while. 

Strewn  with  shells  and  human  relics 

Of  a  long  forgotten  age, 

Mute  reminders  of  the  ancient; 

Of  its  hist'ry  but  a  page. 


Once  an  arm  of  old  Pacific, 
Severed  by  a  bar  of  sand, 
Then  the  waters  slowly  vanished 
Leaving  there  a  barren  land. 
Many  mounds  beside  the  trail  there 
Tell  a  tale  of  death  by  thrist; 
Lost  their  way  mid  sand  and  cactus, 
In  this  former  land  accurst. 


Sloping  gently  to  the  northward 

Stretching  far  as  one  can  see, 

Lies  this  land  so  vast  and  fertile 

Former  land  of  mystery. 

Modern  homes  are  springing  up  there, 

Future  garden  all  will  be 

As  the  farms  increase  in  number 

On  this  bed  of  ancient  sea. 


Where  by  gravity  the  waters 
Of  the  Colorado  flow, 
Never  failing,  but  increasing 
As  the  crops  begin  to  grow; 
In  the  summer  it  is  highest 
When  'tis  needed  most  by  all, 
Gradually  it  then  decreases 
As  the  summer  turns  to  fall. 


224  IS  CHRISTIANITY  A  FAILURE  * 

And  in  case  of  drouth  in  future, 
Where  dependence  rests  in  rain, 
In  less  favored  western   sections, 
'Twill  be  Egypt  with  the  grain. 
That  'twill  feed  the    hungry  millions 
If  there  comes  such  time  forlorn, 
Is  as  certain  as  the  future 
From  the  present's  being  born. 

AFTER  THE  WAR 

(In  France) 

After  the  war  is  over,  boys, 

We'll  all  go  home  to  stay ; 

To  meet  our  friends  and  relatives 

And  proudly  hear  them  say: 

"You  did  the  best  that  boys  could  do, 

You  bravest  of  the  brave, 

You  saved  our  homes  for  all  of  us, 

You  whipped  the  German  knave." 

But  some  of  us  die  to-day,  boys, 

Some  of  us  die  to-day, 

And  someone  will  mourn  for  us,  boys, 

Someone  so  far  away. 

Come,  let  us  be  up  at  'em,  boys, 

And  hurry  this  war  along ; 

The  sooner  we  end  this  awful  strife, 

The  sooner  we'll  right  a  wrong. 

(Home  Again) 

The  wrong  was  righted  there  in  France, 

And  bravely  toa  for  us, 

But  we  have  never  paid  the  boys ; 

The  boys  the  Germans  cuss, 

Came  limping  home  to  homeless  homes, 

When  task  was  bravely  done ; 

They  saved  this  land,  not  for  themselves 

But  for  each  wealthy  one. 


IS  CHRISTIANITY  A  FAILURE*  225 

And  we  all  weep  o'er  unknown  dead; 

Honor  and  tears  are  cheap. 

We  never  see  the  living  boys 

Who  hobble,  limp  and  creep. 

How  grand  to  be  an  unknown  dead, 

Forever  dead,  unnamed, 

How  sad  to  be  alive  instead, 

Does  no  ona  feel  ashamed? 

Not  just  ashamed  to  make  us  blush 

But  shame  that  makes  us  give, 

Real  thoughtful  shame,  that  brings  results, 

That  aids  the  boys  to  live; 

To  get  some  honor,  comfort  too, 

Before  they  reach  their  grave; 

The  justice  that  we  owe  our  boys, 

That  we  should  give  our  brave. 

We  gave  too  much  to  profiteers, 

We're  giving  more  to-day; 

That's  why  we  cannot  pay  the  boys 

The  Germans  tried  to  slay. 

We've  paid  our  debt  to  honored  dead, 

It  cost  a  tear  or  two, 

With  low  bowed  head  on  holiday, 

An  easy  thing  to  do. 

Now  let  us  pay  our  living  boys, 

Just  pay  them  now,  to-day; 

By  giving  homes  for  saving  homes, 

The  only  way  to  pay; 

By  giving  things  to  eat  and  wear 

And  smooth  their  coming  years. 

The  living  we  can  never  pay 

By  holidays  and  tears. 


226  IS  CHRISTIANITY  A  FAILURE? 

"THOU  SHALT  NOT  KILL." 

Our  Christian  governments  of  men 
Are  causing  them  to  die, 
And  woe  be  unto  citizens 
Who  pause  to  ask  them  why. 
We  fill  the  world  with  crippled  men, 
And  fill  the  ground  with  dead, 
While  filling  homes  with  aching  hearts 
For  those  whose  blood  is  shed. 

It  should  be  our's,  our  total  will, 

Yes,  ours  to  reason  why; 

As  well  as  ours  to  pay  the  bill, 

As  well  as  ours  to  die. 

No  war  should  ever  be  declared 

Not  voted  on  by  all ; 

By  men  and  women  that  will  be 

Affected  by  the  call. 


LIVE  AND  GROW 

Sorrow  broadens  out  the  soul, 

While  pleasure  makes  us  vain, 

For  troubles  aid  us  to  our  goal, 

We  only  learn  through  pain. 

We  burn  a  finger,  then  we  know 

More  than  we  did  before, 

For  pain  will  help  us  all  to  grow, 

To  keep  on  knowing  more. 

In  time  we'll  know  enough  to  aid — 

And  not  to  hinder  so — 

Each  other  while  through  life  we  wade ; 

So  all  may  live  and  grow. 


IS  CHRISTIANITY  A  FAILURE?  227 

BE  CAREFUL  WHAT  YOU  THINK 

Brutes,  are  made  to  growl  and  bite, 

To  rend,  and  kill  their  kind. 

But  men,  should  cultivate  and  have, 

A  higher,  broader  mind ; 

A  mind  to  soar  above  our  earth, 

Not  dwell  on,  "me"  and  "mine," 

But  think  of  love  and  things  of  worth, 

To  think  of  things  divine. 

All  human  beings  then  should  be 
Forbearing,  gentle,  kind; 
Be  always  ready  with  their  help, 
Their  neighbors  wound  to  bind. 
For  never  do  we  know  how  soon, 
We'll  need  some  tender  care ; 
Be  laying  low  from  accident, 
Or  sicknes,  so  beware ! 

And  when  you  have  an  unkind  thought, 

Just  fight  it  down  and  take, 

A  stronger  hold  on  life's  best  things, 

For  your  own  welfare's  sake. 

For  if  we  do  not  radiate, 

What  we  ourselves  would  choose, 

We  have  no  right  to  then  expect, 

The  things  we  thereby  lose. 

For  evil  thinking  we  will  pay, 

Eternity  a  toll ; 

For  every  evil  thought  will  leave, 

A  scar  upon  the  soul. 

The  only  devils  we  will  know, 

In  life  that  is  to  be, 

Will  be  bad  thoughts  of  long  ago, 

They'll  haunt  our  harmony. 


228  IS  CHRISTIANITY  A  FAILURE? 


We'll  not  be  judged  by  deeds  alone, 
When  judged  by  One  who  knows; 
For  thought  is  essence,  action  form ; 
From  thought,  the  action  grows. 
If  we,  the  image,  then  would  be, 
Of  Him,  who  placed  us  here ; 
The  Star  of  Love  must  guide  our  fate ; 
Must  banish  hate  and  fear. 


The  only  things  in  life,  worth  while, 

Are  little  acts  of  love ; 

They  cause  us  pleasure  when  we  think ; 

They  lift  our  souls  above. 

If  we  are  careful  what  we  think, 

Our  words  will  need  no  care, 

And  all  our  actions  they  will  be 

Quite  proper,  every  where. 


The  men  who  shot  our  Presidents, 

Were  not  as  much  to  blame, 

As  those  who  generated  thought, 

That  prompted  such  a  shame. 

So  then  be  careful  what  you  think, 

For  what  you  think,  you  are, 

And  every  vicious  thought  you  think, 

May  travel  on  so  far. 


Like  slimy  snakes,  they'll  move  through  space 

While  on,  and  on,  they  go — 

They  might  have  been  pure  doves  of  peace, 

If;  you  had  willed  it  so. 

Our  thoughts  will  mingle  with  their  kind, 

For  better  or  for  worse, 

As  on  they  roll,  from  mind  to  mind, 

A  blessing  or  a  curse. 


IS  CHRISTIANITY  A  FAILURE?  229 


The  things  of  wonder  we  all  see, 

The  things  which  man  has  wrought ; 

Are  nothing  more  then  echo's  of, 

Accumulated  thought. 

Just  stored  up  thought  the  auto  is: 

To  you  it  may  seem  queer, 

A  hundred  thousand  men  or  more 

Just  thought  the  auto  here. 


For  you  and  me,  to  have  and  use, 

By  men  before  our  time. 

For  you  and  me,  just  you  and  me, 

While  we,  are  thinking  crime. 

For  crime  it  is,  to  think  of  self, 

While  babies  cry  for  food, 

While  mothers  cry  themselves  to  sleep 

Because  they'r  treated  rude. 


The  largest  thoughts  that  one  can  think, 

Are  those  of  moral  gold, 

Like  those  of  usefulness  to  man, 

Like  those  of  one  of  old. 

For  if  there'd  been  no  kindly  thought, 

Before  we  came  on  earth, 

No  happiness  to  us  would  come ; 

A  curse,  would  be  our  birth. 


If  we  enjoy  the  kindly  thought 

The  stored  up  thought  we  see 

Then  we  should  be  a-thinking  thought 

To  help  posterity. 

As  well  as  thoughts  of  those  to-day 

Less  fortunate  than  we; 

Of  crippled  ones,  and  invalids, 

Of  those  in  poverty. 


230  IS  CHRISTIANITY  A  FAILURE? 


So  let  us  all,  just  try  and  do 

What  little,  each  one  can, 

To  think  good  thoughts  and  kindly  too; 

To  help  our  fellow  man. 

And  have  no  wars,  as  we  have  had, 

And  raise  up  no  more  men, 

With  tender  care,  from  everywhere, 

To  fill  a  slaughter  pen. 

Blind  hero  worship  causes  war. 
We've  honored  brutes  too  long; 
Napoleon,  Caesar  and  their  kind, 
We've  elevated  wrong. 
We've  taught  our  children  that  the  man, 
In  war  who  did  not  yield, 
Was  great,  in  ratio  to  the  dead, 
He  left  upon  the  field. 


We  honor  selfish  business  thought, 

By  men  who  do  not  care, 

Who  try  like  gready  swine  to  take, 

Their  neighbors  rightful  share. 

We're  teaching  error  right  along, 

We  cultivate  the  weed. 

We're  teaching  how  to  bow  down  low, 

To  dollars  and  to  greed. 


We,  caused  the  war,  all  men  of  earth, 

Our  thoughts  produced  the  crime, 

And  made  it  possible  to  have 

The  greatest  War  of  time. 

Wrong  thinking  seed,  we  men  have  sown, 

For  ages  in  the  past; 

The  harvest  time  is  in  our  day 

We're  reaping  now  at  last. 


IS  CHRISTIANITY  A  FAILURE?  231 

The  fall  of  man  is  caused  by  thought — 

The  stones  that  help  us  sink — 

By  selfish  thought,  those  awful  thoughts, 

That  man  should  blush  to  think. 

The  past  should  cause  us  all  to  pause, 

And  know  the  reason  why 

We  sent  our  men  to  foreign  lands, 

To  sacrifice  and  die. 


Before  world  peace  can  e'er  be  won, 

The  people  must  be  taught 

That  far  more  vicious  than  a  gun 

Is  any  brutal  thought. 

A  fool  within  a  magazine, 

With  lighted  match  may  loll, 

A  fool  with  but  a  single  thought, 

May  cause  a  nation's;  fall. 


The  thought  that  comes  but  from  the  head 

Is  crippled  at  the  start; 

The  grandest  thought  that  one  can  think 

Is  prompted  by  the  heart. 

A  thought  that  causes  godly  work 

No  time  or  distance  bars, 

It's  words  are  shrill,  like  trumpet  blast, 

Are  heard  beyond  the  stars. 


Our  sprit  is  a  manuscript, 
And  every  thought  we  think, 
We  daily  write  as  plain  as  we 
Could  write  with  pen  and  ink, 
Our  words  and  acts  recording  here 
Upon  our  parchment  scroll, 
The  good,  the  bad,  so  God  may  see 
A  record  of  our  soul. 


232  IS  CHRISTIANITY  A  FAILURE? 

And  when  we  pass  to  life  beyond 

We  take  but  this  alone, 

All  other  things,  we  leave  behind; 

For  sins  we  must  atone, 

And  take  our  place  in  life  to  come 

According  to  our  grade, 

According  to  our  thoughts  and  acts, 

The  record  we  have  made. 


YOU  CAME  TO  ME. 

Out  of  the  nowhere,  it  seemed  to  me, 

You  wandered  home,  just  like  it  was  to  be. 

Like  a  stray  moonbeam  on  a  gloomy  night 

You  came,  a  ray  of  soothing  light; 

To   comfort   me,   believe   and   comprehend; 

To  help  me  all  you  could  and  be  a  friend. 

To  brighten  up  my  earthly  road, 

To  lighten  some  my  heavy  load. 

I  needed  you,  your  childish  Jove  and  sympathy, 

And  you — I  think  that  you  girl  must  have  needed  me. 


OH,  SHUX. 

I  love  a  girl,  I  don't  know  why; 

When  she's  away,  I  sigh  and  sigh. 
When  she  comes  near,  I  feel  so  queer; 

I  want  to  say:  "I  love  you  dear." 
I  want  her  for  my  own  so  bad; 

'Cause  I  can't  get  her,  I  am  sad. 
I  want  to  hold  her  tight  and  say: 

"I've  got  you  .now,  you'll  have  to   stay." 
Just  fine,  I   think  I'm  getting  on, 

I  look  around,  the  girl  is  gone. 
Another  fellow  caught  her  eye 

And  she  has  left  me  high  and  dry. 


IS  CHRISTIANITY  A  FAILURE?  233 

TWO  HEARTS  SO  EASY  WON. 

A  little  loving  now  and  then 

Is  just  the  thing  for  healthy  men 

As  well  as  women  too,  indeed, 

It  seems  to  be  the  thing  they  need, 

As  much  as  food  and  clothes  to  wear 

When  it  is  given  on  the  square. 

Yet  awful  things  the   lovers   do, 

When  you  and  I  are  not  the  two. 

While  in  the  shadow  of  the  door 

He   gently  gave   her   one 

She  thot:  "That's  fine,  I'd  like  some  more/' 

He  thot:  "I've  just  begun."— 

Two   souls   who'd  rather  not  get  caught; 

Two  hearts  so  easy  won. 

How  heavenly  it  seems  to  them, — 

To  other  people  fun. 

To  meet  and  part,  and  meet  again; 
To  take  her  in  your  arms  and  then — 
Oh,  well  I  can't  explain  it  all; 
You'll  know  in  time,  don't  let  her  fall. 
The  greatest  pleasure   that  we  know; 
All  normal  people  think  it  so; 
When  happening  to  be  the  two 
Engaged  in  that  which  we  all  do. 


TO  LOVE  IS  TO  SUFFER. 

To  love  is  to  suffer,  to  live  is  to  die; 

In  a  world  of  pleasure  there's  many  a  sigh. 
When  the  lips  of  true  love,  and  passion  once  meet, 

Then  must  the  bitter  soon  follow  the  sweet. 
WTiile  making  more  perfect,  real  love  from  the  heart, 

Yet  passion,  of  true  love  is  only  a  part. 
\Vhen  love  meets  love,  the  result  is  sublime; 

But  loveless  passion  is  nothing  but  crime. 


234  IS  CHRISTIANITY  A  FAILURE? 

WHEN  SHE'S  NOT  TRUE. 

When   she   goes   wrong,   when   she's   not   true 

To  him,  as  well  as  others  too ; 

She'll   work  him   for  some  presents, 

She'll  lead  him  on  and  on ; 

Until  he's  out  of  patience ; 

Until  his  money's  gone. 

She'll  try  to  make  him  think  that  she 

Just  loves  him  more  and  more, 

And  that  he  is  her  only  beau. — 

The   Httle  flirt,— she's  got  'em  by  the  score. 


AWFUL 

When  people  get  mushy  and  start  in  to  woo — 
Engage  in  the  loving  that  all  of  us  do, — 
Then  others  will  snicker,  or  gossip  or  scold, 
Condemning  such  actions  as  silly  or  bold. 

How  base  and  degrading  to  others  it  seems, 

When  free  from  the  charmer:  young  love  and  its 

dreams, 

How  easy  it  is  to  be  virtuous  then, 
For  unhealthy  women  an'  defective  men. 

While  they  may  be  virtuous*  so  is  a  post; 
For  love  never  tempts  any  dead  and  gone  ghost. 
Love  means  to  many,  what  sun  means  to  mould; 
It  withers  and  blights,  like  too  hot  or  too  cold. 

Be  full-blooded  mortals,  act  sane  and  sincere; 
Love  while  you'r  living,  or  staying  down  here. 
If  you  cannot  enjoy,  let  others  alone; 
Each  for  his  own  sins,  in  time  will  atone. 

My,  but  its  nice  to  be  one  of  the  two! 
How  fine  it  all  seems  if  it's  just  me  and  you — 
For  then  we  would  never,  no  never  get  through — 
How  awful  it  is,  when  it's  some  other  two. 


IS  CHRISTIANITY  A  FAILURE?  235 

CAMPING  OUT. 

Now  here  we  lie,  all  in  a  heap 

And  try  our  best  to  go  to  sleep. 
The  skeeters  bite  us  on  the  nose, 

The  centipedes,  they  chew  our  toes, 
The  wood-ticks  burrough  in  our  hide, 

The  fleas  roam  'round  from  side  to  side. 

The  gnats,  they  live  behind  our  ears, 
Bathe  in  our  eyes  and  bring  the  tears; 

While  bugs  just  frolic  o'er  the  dome 

Through  hair  that  would  not  know  a  comb. 

We  pull  the  kivvers  o'er  our  heads 

And   dream   of  home  and  better  beds. 

While  just  before  the  peep  o'day, 

Mosquitoes,    gnats    and    bugs    go    'way, 

The  flies  then  come  to  take  their  place, 
Our  patience  gone,  we  fall  from  grace, 

Forget  religion  while  we  swear 
We'll  never  camp  again,  not  there. 

We  get  up  cross  -and  then  begin 

The  morning  meal  to  store  within 
Though  smoked,  and  burned,  and  full  of  sand 

Is  all  the  grub — but  my,  it's  grand 
To  be  alive  and  eat  that  meal, 

It  makes  life  really,  truly  real. 

TWO  DOGS  THAT  I  KNOW 

Snowball  and  Lucky  are  dogs  that  I  know, 

They'r  neighbors  of  ours,  next  week  they  will  go. 

Just  moving  away  to  a  town  further  on; 

I'm  sure  we'll  be  missing  them,  when  they  are  gone. 

Snowball  is  smallish  and  curly  and  white, 
Physically  speaking,  he's  what  you  call  light. 
Lucky  is  tallish  and  bony  and  rough 
He  looks  like  a  dog  that  could  run  a  big  bluff. 


236  IS  CHRISTIANITY  A  FAILURE? 

They  often  come  over  to  see  us  awhile; 

To  see  them  performing  would  cause  you  to  smile. 

Snowball  is  trying  to  scratch  on  the  sill 

While   Lucky  stands  looking  and  barks  with  a  will. 

They'll  wait  and  they'll  listen,  and  look  at  the  door, 
Then  after  a  moment  they'll  try  it  all  o'er. 
Their  heads  bending  sideways,  their  ears  in  the  air, 
Their  eyes  are  a-asking:  "Oh  friends  are  you  these?" 

"We'r  coming,  to  see  you,  we'r  lonesome  and  sad; 
Our  masters  have  left  us  so  long,  we  feel  bad. 
We'r  hungry,  neglected  and  craving  your  smile, 
We'r  wanting  to  come  and  be  near  you  awhile." 

And  then,  when  we  open  the  door  you  should  see, 
The  wagging  of  tails  and  the  jumping  with  glee. 
Tickled  to  death  at  the  welcome  they  get, 
The  happiest  doggies  that  one  ever  met. 

THOSE  KIDS. 

I  think  of  those  kids,  I  bless  them  and  pray 
For  kids  who'll  be  men  and  be  women  some  day; 
With  troubles  a-plenty,  us  old  folks  are  knowing, 
But  kids  will  be  kids  and  learn  only  by  showing. 

You'r  telling  and  telling,  but  rarely  soaks  in, 
They  climb  up  to  virtue  by  passing  through  sin; 
They'r   gaining  their  knowledge   by   making  mistakes, 
They'r  reaching  perfection  through  many  bad  breaks. 

How  do  I  know  it?     Well,  I'm  telling  you  now, 
That  I  was  a  kid  once,  and  followed  a  plow; 
I  hilled  the  potatoes  and  hoed  out  the  weeds, 
I  spaded  the  garden  and  planted  the  seeds. 

I  carried  in  wood  'till  my  back  used  to  ache, 

I  got  in  the  jam  and  got  in  the  cake; 

Did  many  a  thing  that  I  would  not  do  now, 

I  saved  my  hide  sometimes  but  sometimes,  oh,  wow ! 


IS  CHRISTIANITY  A  FAILURE?  237 

ITS  REAL  ESTATE  FOR  JIM. 

My  wife  and   I  have  wondered  much 
What   we  will   do  with   Jim, 
And  we  have  'bout  concluded  that 
It's  "real   estate"  for  him. 

He  does  not  like  to  hoe  the  corn 
Or  weed  the  garden  patch, 
But  when  he  hears  the  dinner  gong, 
He's  pulling  at  the  latch. 

He  never  wants  to  do  his  part, 
He's  always  on  the  shirk, 
In   fact   its   anything  for  Jim 
But  real  hard,  honest  work. 

And  now  that  Jim   has   flatly  failed 
At  everything  so  far, 
We'll  start  him  up  in  "real  estate," 
With  classy  motor  car. 

The  only  capital  he  needs, 

Is  tidy  clothes  to  wear, 

Dislike   of  work  with   pompousness, 

And  plenty  of  hot  air. 

Where  he  can  make  his  ten  per  cent, 
For  nothing  in  return, 
But  just  a-roping  in  the  chap, 
With  plenty  wealth  to  burn. 

For  when  a   person   can't  succeed 
With  out  committing  sin, 
He'll  settle  down  to  "real  estate" 
And  rake  the  dollars  in. 

So  many  men  in  "real  estate," 
Will  secretly  ensnare 
Their  nearest  friend  or  relative 
And  load  him  down  with  care. 


238  IS  CHRISTIANITY  A  FAILURE? 

So  they  may  gain  their  juicy  fee 
And   travel  "easy  road," 
While  victims  of  their  cunning  talk, 
Are  crushed  beneath  the  load. 

They  seem  so  nice  and  neighborly 
Until  the  deal  is  made, 
And  then  they'll  make  you  dance  for  them 
Or  forfeit  all  you've  paid. 

They'r  always  short  on  making  good 
Their  promises  profuse 
But  you  must  do  all  you  agreed 
Or  everything  you'll  lose. 


A   GRINDSTONE   OF   THE   GODS 

This  earth  to  me,  appears  to  be,  a  Grindstone  of  the 

Gods 
While  turning  'round  our  wits  are  ground  so  we  may 

battle  odds. 
Some   mortals   are    of   metal   made,   that   sharpen   well 

in  time 
While  others  seem  of  poorer  grade*  who  melt  or  turn 

to  crime. 


LIKES  AND  DISLIKES 

Your  likes  and  dislikes  are  a  part  of  yourself 
As  much  or  more  so  than  your  fingers  and  toes. 
And  while  you  can't  help  being  just  what  you  are, 
A  bow-legged  man  with  a  wart  on  your  nose — , 
Your  reason  should  guide  you  and  act  as  a  bar 
To  keep  you  from  doing  some  things  you  elect. 
Just  think  the  thing  over  before  you  go  far ; 
A  "like,"  like  a  wart,  may  be  a  defect. 


IS  CHRISTIANITY  A  FAILURE?  239 

SCARECROW  SAL 

Scarecrow  Sal  was  a  patient  old  dame 
But  the  way  she  was  treated  was  just  a  shame; 
She  watched  in  the  garden  for  ever  so  long, 
While  doing  much  good  she  thought  of  no  wrong. 

After  a  long  and  wearisome  day 
Of  scaring  the  birdies  and  rabbits  away; 
Protecting  the  garden  as  well  as  she  could, 
While  on  her  way  home  by  a  brick  pile  she  stood. 

Three  heroes  were  living  just  south  of  the  brick, 
A-waiting  for  someone  their  size  she  could  lick. 
I  know  all  their  names,  and  could  mention  them  too, 
In  fact  I  may  do  so  before  I  get  through. 

Well,  anyway,  Sal  was  alone  in  the  dark, 
So  tired  and  nervous — now  what  was  that — hark! 
A   box   falling  down — a   devilish   queer  noise — 
The  hair  stood  up  straight  on  the  heads  of  three 
boys. 

• 

Out  of  the  tent  flew   Owen   and  gun, 
Ralph  at  his  heels  and  Bill  on  the  run. 
Bang!  went  the  gun  while  pointed  at  Sal — 
A-facing  three  heroes,  what  show  had  the  gal? 

I 

Owen,  he  swore  like  a  pirate  would  do  it; 
Ralph  lunged  at  Sally,  but  Bill  beat  him  to  it. 
Bill  grabbed  her  throat  and  the  splinters  just  flew 
Ralph  tried  to  hit  her  and  then  they  all  knew. 

I 

The  light  seemed  to  dawn  on  'em  there  in  the  dark 
They  had  a  thriller  and  we  had  a  lark 
Poor  Sally  was  injured,  three  heroes  felt  cheap 
My,  what  a  racket,  no  one  could  sleep. 


240  IS  CHRISTIANITY  A  FAILURE? 

DORA  MCCARTHY 

Sad   news   I'm  resavin,'  that   touches  the   quick, 
They're  telling  me  Dora  McCarthy  is  sick, 
They're  telling  she  lies  there  in  bed  all  the  while, 
With  a  tormintin'  pain  and  nivver  a  smile. 

Imagine  me  horror,   pathetic   surprise — 
But  wait  jist  a  minit,  there's  rain  in  me  eyes; 
Wid  the  slave  of  me  coat,  I'll  jist  wipe  it  away, 
But   the   lump   in   me  throat  there,   sames  wantin' 
to  stay. 

I'm  sorry  of  wan  thing,  I'll  hev  to  confiss, 
Now  thet  ye'r  sick  and  unable  to  driss: 
I  was  dramin'  of  ye,  one  nite  long  ago, 
I  tho't  ye  looked  sassy  an'  sed  to  me,  so: 

"O'Brien  ye  scamp,  I'm  mad  at  ye  now, 

If  it's  trouble  ye're  wantin',  I'm  riddy  to  row," 

An'  phwat  did  I  say?       As  sure  as  I  live, 

It's  a  kiss  ye  are  wantin',  and  thin  ye'll  fergive. 

While  ye  were  some  firm,  it's  stubborn  I  was, 
Me  rason  was  bad,  yer  rason  "because;" 
But  why  not  be  friends,  as  like  we  was  once, 
I'm  not  blamin'  ye,  girl,  it's  meself  was  a  dunce. 

Now  Dora  McCarthy,  cheer  up  wid  a  smile, 
Ye'v  somethin'  t0  live  for,  at  least  for  a  while. 
I'm  riddy  an'  willin,'  when  ye  are  the  same, 
To  meet  an'  make  up  as  ye  asked  in  me  drame. 


STAY  MIT  IT. 

Annodder  Dutchman,  vunce,  und  I 
Lives  on  a  mountain  oop  so  high. 
Ve  talks  erbout  a  road  ve  make 
So  him  ve  build  mitout  mistake. 


IS  CHRISTIANITY  A  FAILURE? 

Der  nodder  Dutchman  says  to  me: 
"Dot  land  vas  hard,  now  don't  you  see, 
Und  ven  ve  tries  dot  plow  to  sink 
She  mit  der  ground  oudt  conies  I  tink! 

"It  should  be  best  you  ride  der  beam, 
Und  I  vil  try  and  stear  der  team, 
So  you  vas  better  ride  him  strong 
Vile   I  yust  conies  behind  along." 

Then  I  dot  plow,  on  top  did  stand, 
To  make  him  dig  oop  deep  dot  land. 
Der  nodder   Dutchman   says  to  me: 
"Stay  mit  it,  dot  is  fine  you  see." 

How  nice  to  hear  dot  Dutchman  say: 
"Stay  mit  it,  this  vas  only  play." 
Dot  plow  along  so  smooth  did  went 
Until  ve   meets   dot  axident. 

But  soon  ve  hits  der  poulder  rock 
Und  then — a  double-header  shock. 
Dot  plow  she  breaks  himself  in  two 
Und  down  der  mountain  ve  yust  flew. 

Those  stumps  ve  bump  against  our  nose; 
Der  brush  she  tear  off  all  our  clothes; 
Der  team  tied  loose  himself  und  vent,  - 
But  ve  stayed  near  dot  axident. 

Und  vile  ve  stand  dere,  sitting  down, — 
Ve  vere  too  veak  to  m'ove  aroun,' — 
Ve  look  each  nodder  in  der  face 
Und  feel  so  foolish  in  dot  place. 

Ve  neider  of  us  feel  so  gay 

Instead  of  saying:  mit  it  stay, 

Der  nodder  Dutchman  change  his  song: 

"Mein  Gott!     You  mit  it  stayed  too  long." 


241 


242  IS  CHRISTIANITY  A  FAILURE? 

MONO  da  MONK 

Me  find-a  da  mine,  me  call  Mono  da  Monk; 

Me  dig-a  da  gole,  in  da  great-a  beeg  chunk. 
Me  buy-a  da  grand-a  beeg  au-to-mo-beel ; 

Me  climb-a  da  grade  an  me  coast  down  da  heel. 
She  make-a  dees  life  so  nice  an  so  real, 

That  grand-a  that  fine-a  beeg  au-to-mo-beel. 

Me  tell-a  my  frens  all  come  take-a  da  ride; 

We  bust-a  da  tire  an  she  spoil-a  my  pride, 
We  crack-a  da  spark — what  you  all  call-a  da  plug, 

Da  enga  he  stutter,  he  chug-a  stop  chug 
Diablo  seems  in  heem  no  pull-a  da  load, 

She  stop-a  go  dead-a  out  in-a  da  road. 

Me  get-a  da  horse  an  she  pull  heem  to  town, 
He  make-a  me  feel  just  like-a  beeg  clown. 

Me  swear-a  da  bad,  da  word  he  not  nice, 
Me  sell-a  da   car — most  any   da  price, 

Me  buy-a  da  sheep  what  sail-a  da  air, 
An  show-a  da  worl'  how  queek  I  get  there. 

Da  enga  he  stop  no  want-a  go  well, 

Da  sheep  he  no  stop  he  go  like-a  me  tell. 

We  hit-a  da  groun'  like-a  car-load-a  brick, 
They  pull-a  me  out  an  she  make-a  me  sick; 

She  break-a  my  borne  an  she  bust-a  my  head, 
She  make-a  me  live  long-a  time  in  da  bed. 

My  eye  he  mooch  black  he  no  let-a  me  see, 
Me  drink-a  da  toast  and  me  eat-a  da  tea. 

Me  think-a  what  fool  all  these  mortal  she  bean, 
She  go-a  so  craze  on  all  kind-a  macheen. 

Me  get-a  some  well  an  me  stand  in  a  chair 
Me  think-a  da  sheep  an  me  try  not  to  swear. 


IS  CHRISTIANITY  A  FAILURE?  243 

Me  sell-a  da  ding-bust-a  thing-a  one  day, 
Me  tell-a  da  man  she  no  need-a  to  pay, 

To  take-a  da  thing,  me  no  want-a  da  ride, 
Me  no  get-a  laze,  me  no  got-a  da  pride 

She  not  be  so  long,  when  me  leave-a  dees  bunk 
Me  walk-a  da  mine-a  call  Mono  da  Monk. 


THE  CROAKER 

(Dedicated   to   a   man    I   know) 

Wherever  he  may  chance  to  be 
He  croaks  to  make  inharmony 

He  croaks  in  business,  croaks  at  home, 
He  needs  a  boot-jack  on  his  dome. 
He  croaks  to  hinder  and  to  kill, 
He  always  did  and  always  will. 

His  croak  starts  things  to  going  wrong, 
As  fools  will  listen  to  his  song; 

They  get  en  rapport  with  his  pain 
And  start  to  singing  his  refrain. 

Until  success — and   something  doin' — 
Is  turned  to  rout  and  utter  ruin. 

O,  How  this  croaker  loves  to  croak ; 
He's  more  a  nuisance  than  a  joke. 
He's  croaking  early,  croaking  late, 

Just  croaks  his  spite  and  croaks  his  hate ; 
He  just  cant  croak  enough  it  seems, 
He  croaks  awake  and  in  his  dreams. 

He  croaks  and  knows  it  doesn't  pay; 
He  croaks  because  he  feels  that  way. 
He  croaks  the  same  thing  o'er  and  o'er, 
He'll  croak  till  Time  shall  be  no  more ; 
He'll  never  stop  his  horrid  croak 
Until  his  blamed  old  croaker's  broke. 


ADVICE  TO  GIRLS. 

Whenever  any  man,  young  or  old,  married  or  single, 
seems  to  take  more  than  ordinary  interest  in  you;  an 
interest  great  enough  to  ask  you  to  accompany  him 
alone  for  a  walk  or  ride,  to  church,  theatre  or  any- 
where, do  not  become  flattered  but  become  suspicious; 
for,  in  a  majority  of  cases,  it  will  be  more  for  his  in- 
terest, benefit  and  pleasure,  than  for  your  own.  In 
many  cases  it  will  be  to  injure  you  and  cause  you  untold 
agony  and  disgrace  that  you  will  not  be  able  to  cover 
up  or  survive. 

Never  accept  such  an  invitation  from  a  person  you 
would  not  at  the  time,  "think"  yourself  possibly  willing 
to  marry.  Nine  times  out  of  ten  he  will  be  thinking 
of  the  marriage  relation  with  you,  while  you  are  think- 
ing of  something  entirely  different,  when  he  asks  you 
to  accompany  him. 

DO  not  become  under  obligations  to,  or  become  fa- 
miliar or  overly  friendly  with  a  man  who  is  not  free  to 
marry  and  one  whom  you  would  not  possibly  be  will- 
ing to  marry. 

Beware  of  any  boy  or  man  who  seeks  to  meet  you 
alone  and  unknown  to  your  folks,  as  great  harm  may 
come  to  you  when  you  least  expect  it. 

Scorn  any  flirtation  with  strangers,  as  no  man  or 
boy  of  refinement  will  try  to  flirt  with  a  strange  girl. 
None  but  those  of  depraved  and  brutal  nature  will 
do  it. 

It  makes  no  difference  who  the  man  or  boy  is ;  a  mil- 
lionair's  son,  a  pauper's  son  or  neighbor's  son.  Such  a 
man  or  boy  may  "like"  you,  but  don't  feel  proud,  rather 
feel  humiliated  and  ashamed,  as  this  kind  of  "like"  is 
not  pure  love,  because  such  men  or  boys  are  simply 
not  capable  of  loving  in  a  pure  manner. 

The  kind  of  affection  such  men  or  boys  would  have 
for  you  is  the  same  character  as  the  wolf  or  fox  would 


IS  CHRISTIANITY  A  FAILURE?  245 

have  for  chickens.  Wolves  and  foxes  "like"  chickens, 
yes,  but  when  the  wolves  and  foxes  get  through  with 
the  chickens  there  is  nothing  left  but  a  few  bones  and 
blood  stained  feathers.  When  such  men  and  boys  get 
through  with  you  there  will  be  nothing  left  but  dis- 
grace. You  will  abhor  yourself,  and,  under  the  circum- 
stances how  could  you  reasonably  expect  anyone  else 
to  look  at  you  in  any  other  light? 

Do  not  look  on  the  folks  who  warn  you,  as  "old 
fools,"  saying:  "nobody  is  going  to  eat  me,  I  guess  I 
can  look  out  for  myself."  No,  girls  do  not  do  this.  This 
would  be  a  mistake.  There  is  a  right  road  to  travel 
through  earthly  life  and  a  wrong  road.  I  am  trying  to 
point  out  the  right  road.  One  leads  to  happiness  and 
the  other  to  disgrace  and  misery. 

You  will  come  in  contact  with  more  men  and  boys 
on  earth  who  will  try  to  fead  you  on  the  wrong  road, 
than  those  who  will  point  out  to  you  the  right  road. 
Some  men  and  boys  will  show  you  the  wrong  road  sim- 
ply because  it  is  to  their  interest  to  do  so.  It  is  human 
nature  to  do  so,  the  brutal  part  of  human  nature ;  the 
kind  of  human  nature  that  is  on  a  par  with  vicious  low- 
er animals; — animals  that  "enjqy  life"  by  ensnaring 
and  crushing  between  their  merciless  jaws,  the  lives 
of  other  animals,  lapping  the  blood  of  their  vistims  with 
satisfaction; — human  nature  that  will  then  start 'an- 
other flirtation  with  another  silly,  strange  girl.  This 
kind  of  human  nature,  this  kind  of  men,  must  neces- 
sarily work  among  strangers;  those  who  do  not  know 
their  real  character. 

Everytime  a  stranger,  or  anyone  else  for  that  mat- 
ter, starts  a  flirtation  with  you,  just  think  of  Bluebeard 
Gillam.  Think  of  the  many  girls  and  women  he  "mar- 
ried" and  then  murdered;  remembering  that  not  all  of 
the  Bluebeards  get  caught  and  that  not  all  of  them  are 
dead.  This  may  help  to  hold  you  somewhat  steady. 

Always  remember  that  the  greater  the  tempter,  the 
greater  the  charm,  fascination  and  apparent  agreeable- 


246  IS  CHRISTIANITY  A  FAILURE? 

ness  about  him.  Think  of  the  pretty  bright  light  that 
attracts  the  moth  to  its  destruction.  The  moth  says: 
"Oh,  how  lovely ;  it  is  the  very  thing  I  have  longed  and 
prayed  for;  it  is  so  pleasant;  how  could  it  harm  me?" 
And  then  the  moth  flies  straight  to  destruction. 

Remember,  girls,  that  rogues  are  always  more  pol- 
ished, more  polite  and  more  charming  than  many 
honest,  well  meaning  people.  They  seem1  to  be  that 
which  they  are  not. 

"All  girls  between  the  ages  of  14  to  20  are  natural- 
ly, spontaneously  and  inevitably  in  love ;  and  all  that 
is  then  wanting  is  a  suitable  and  worthy  object  to  lav- 
ish it  on.  If  she  finds  such,  well  and  good ;  but  whether 
she  does  or  not  she  must  and  will  pour  it  out,  healthy 
v»r  otherwise,  on  a  cat,  a  dog,  a  man  or  a  orute,  nor 
can  she  help  it;  it  is  the  birth  of  affection,  love  and 
romance.  She  thinks  no  wrong  and  fears  no  harm. 
Gentle,  trustful,  noble  girl,"  though  willful  as  well  at 
times. 

Listen  girls:  since  women  have  been  given  the  vote, 
a  big  responsibility  rests  on  your  shoulders.  There  is 
a  big  world  war  just  ahead  of  us.  It  will  be  a  war  of 
ideas  fought  with  words,  not  guns.  Intelligent,  un- 
selfish men  will  be  trying  to  make  this  earth  a  better 
place  for  you  to  live  in,  while  selfish,  brutal  men  will 
be  trying  to  keep  our  earth  just  as  it  is ;  they  now  have 
you,  as  well  as  others,  at  a  great  disadvantage.  You 
will  have  the  casting  vote ;  you  may  have  the  respon- 
sibility of  deciding  questions  that  will  sway  the  world. 
In  your  hands  rests  the  future  progress  and  future  hap- 
piness of  the  human  race.  You  will  be  called  upon  to 
decide  how  much  sorrow,  misery  and  poverty  shall  be 
allowed  to  exist  in  the  future.  You  will  decide  how 
many  glad,  joyous  and  happy,  healthy  children,  and 
grown  people,  earth  shall  have,  and  how  many  pinched, 
hungry,  diseased  and  criminal  faces  our  earth  shall  pro- 
duce. You  will  have  the  deciding  vote,  be  careful  what 
you  do. 


IS  CHRISTIANITY  A  FAILURE?  247 

Think;  read  and  think,  study  and  think.  Try  and 
discover  truth  in  all  things.  Try  and  discover  the 
truth  about  religion,  about  economics,  about  everyday 
affairs.  Listen  to  what  your  mother  and  father  and 
others  say  about  religion.  Listen  to  what  the  preacher 
and  the  Sunday  school  teacher  say  about  religion  and 
other  things,  but  do  not  "believe"  what  anybody  says 
unless  it  satisfies  your  reason.  Take  your  Bible  and 
read  it;  study  it.  Commence  at  the  beginning  and  read 
it  intelligently.  Do  not  let  your  Sunday  school  teacher 
pick  out  the  dainty  morsels  for  you.  Read  and  think 
for  yourself,  like  you  do  at  public  school. 

Do  not  get  the  idea  that  I  am  advising  you  to  diso- 
bey your  parents.  I  am  not.  I  am  advising  you  to 
think  properly  so  you  can  vote  properly.  And  the  prop- 
er way  for  you  to  vote  is  to  vote  the  way  your  reason, 
not  your  prejudice,  tells  you  to  vote.  And  your  rea- 
son cannot  act  unless  you  study  and  think  on  the  ques- 
tions you  are  called  on  to  decide.  Learn  to  depend  on 
your  own  intelligence  and  not  be  influenced  or  herded 
by  others. 

One  of  the  big  questions  for  any  girl  to  decide  is  the 
marriage  question.  It  is  really  the  biggest  question 
of  her  life.  And  too  many  times  the  question  is  settled 
too  much  like  the  following: 

A  boy  and  girl  are  out  walking,  out  riding,  sitting 
in  the  park  or  parlor  and  he  says:  "Be  mine?"  She 
says:  "Uh-huh ;"  they  walk  across  the  street,  procure 
a  license,  see  a  Justice  of  the  Peace,  spend  ten  dollars 
and  ten  minutes,  and  are  joined  until  "death  do  us  part." 
Easy  isn't  it?  I  say  it  is  too  easy.  It  rrtust  be  made 
harder  for  the  protection  of  the  individuals  as  well  as 
for  the  protection  of  society  in  general. 

They  have  taken  the  most  important  step  that  two 
humans  possibly  can  take  in  this  life  without  anyone 
else  interfering  other  than  to  grin  and  make  fun  of  them. 
The  girl  has  taken  great  risks  that  no  girl  should  take, 
without  consuming  much  time  in  studying  every  possi- 


248  IS  CHRISTIANITY  A  FAILURE? 

bility  connected  with  the  matter.  She  can  do  in  a  mo- 
ment that  which  it  may  take  a  life  time  to  undo,  correct 
or  wipe  away. 

She  runs  the  risk  of  contracting  a  loathsome  disease 
second  only  to  leprosy.  She  runs  the  risk  of  getting 
a  brutal,  jealous,  selfish,  neglectful  husband  in  place  of 
an  attentive,  considerate,  generous  and  manly  lover  she 
thinks  she  is  getting.  The  boy  takes  some  risks,  yes, 
but  nothing  as  compared  to  the  risk  the  girl  takes. 

The  next  day,  the  next  week,  the  next  month  or  year, 
one  or  the  other,  or  both  of  them,  may  wake  up  and 
realize  that  they  are  chained  to  an  uncongenial,  un- 
friendly, unfaithful  or  brutal  or  deceitful  mate,  and  can- 
not become  unchained  unless  one  of  them  dies  or  one 
or  the  other  becomes  a  criminal  in  the  eyes  of  the  law, 
and  all  their  troubles  and  private  affairs  are  exposed  to 
public  view  while  being  aired  in  court,  while  the  law- 
yers get  a  good  share,  if  not  all  of  their  savings. 

Now  this  is  all  wrong.  There  is  a  better  way. 
While  we  will  not  be  able  to  do  away  with  all  the 
troubles  of  earth,  we  certainly  can  lessen  them  greatly 
by  thinking,  telling  our  thoughts  to  others  and  reason- 
ing together.  When  we  start  in  to  do  some  reforming 
we  are  usually  nine-tenths  wrong,  but  if  we  keep  at  it 
prayerfully  and  intelligently  we  will  see  clearly  in  time 
and  be  of  service  to  the  world. 

This  is  why  I  would  like  to  see  a  new  church  es- 
tablished. A  church  where  all  these  worldly  questions 
can  be  talked  over  in  a  religious  manner.  Where  views 
can  be  exchanged  and  the  truth  can  be  uncovered  and 
put  to  work  aiding  justice  in  all  human  affairs. 

Religion  must  reform  the  world;  women  must  help 
reform  "(religion.  But  you  girls  must  start  the  ball 
rolling.  You  must  get  in  the  habit  of  thinking  straight 
and  deep  on  all  questions.  The  church  is  the  proper 
place  to  discuss  things  worth  while.  I  do  not  refer  to 
Catholic  or  Protestant  churches  or  to  any  other  church 
where  a  man-made  god  is  worshipped.  I  refer  to  a 


IS  CHRISTIANITY  A  FAILURE?  249 

People's  church,  built  on  broader  lines;  a  church  that 
is  to  come  when  civilization  is  ready  for  it.  A  church 
that  will  recognize  the  needs  of  human  nature  and 
help  to  supply  those  needs.  A  church  that,  among 
many  other  things,  will  recognize  the  absolute  neces- 
sity of  courting  and  will  properly  encourage  and  super- 
vise it,  instead  of  driving  it  to  public  dance  halls,  back 
lanes  and  dark  alleys.  Yes,  a  church  that  would  al- 
low the  proper  kind  of  dancing  as  well  as  other  harm- 
less, worldly  entertainments,  inside  of  said  church.  A 
church  for  humans,  not  a  hypocritical  "house  of  god" 
church.  God  is  too  big  to  go  to  church  or  live  in 
churches.  Men,  women  and  children  need  churches  to 
teach  them  how  to  live  and  act  towards  each  other. 

It  is  a  great  mistake  for  us  to  think  that  we  honor  and 
serve  our  Creator  by  kneeling  and  mumbling;  by  setting 
aside  a  special  day  as  more  sacred  than  any  other  day, 
or  by  observing  any  set  form  of  worship. 

True  prayer,  a  constant  desire  for  that  which  the  wor- 
thy deserve,  is  laudable  and  should  be  encouraged.  But 
getting  down  on  one  knees  and  praying  when  we  should 
be  out  at  Work,  is  weak,  crude  and  heathenish. 

Our  present  religious  system  is  full  of  inconsistencies 
that  men  have  put  there  and  women  keep  there.  Wo- 
men must  learn  to  reason  and  reject  everything  their 
reason  does  not  approve  of.  Until  this  happens,  we  will 
not  have  a  warless  world. 

While  our  men  and  boys  fought  fine  in  the  late  war, 
our  women  and  girls  can  do  grander  and  better:  they 
can  think  and  vote  for  their  country.  The  more  real 
thinking  we  have  for  our  country  the  less  fighting  we 
will  need. 

Beware  of  partizanship  and  prejudice  in  everything. 
Beware  of  cliques,  clans,  political  parties  and  religious 
demoninations.  They  divide  and  enslave  the  people 
while  their  political,  financial  and  religious  masters  rob 
them. 

Do  not  "belong"  (body  and  soul)  to  any  political  par- 


250  IS  CHRISTIANITY  A  FAILURE? 

ty  or  religious  organization.  Do  not  let  any  individual 
or  set  of  individuals  place  a  collar  around  your  neck  with 
a  chain  attached  to  it. 

Do  not  get  stampeded  when  some  shallow  brained  per- 
son accuses  you  of  being  disloyal  to  your  church,  your 
political  party,  your  lodge  or  club.  Be  loyal  to  your 
Creator,  humanity,  truth,  justice  and  reason  first. 

Do  not  desire,  expect  or  accept  something  for  nothing. 
Give  an  equivalent  for  all  you  recieve.  If  you  are  not 
able  to  give  it  to  those  from  whom  you  recieve,  then 
give  to  others  in  need  of  what  you  can  give. 

Loyalty  is  sometimes  a  crime.  One  cannot  be  loyal 
to  a  dead,  superstitious  religion  without  being:  a  traitor 
to  humanity. 

A  religion  teaching  that  salvation  rests  on  "belief", 
teaches  error.  "Belief,"  like  "taste  or  "smell'"  is  some- 
thing over  which  we  have  no  control.  If  a  fact,  we 
believe  it  and  accept  it  as  a  fact.  If  garbage  tasted  good 
to  us  an  smelled  good  to  us  we  would  all  eat  garbage. 
Things  that  do  not  taste  and  smell  good  to  us  we 
usually  stear  clear  of.  Statements  that  do  not  sound  rea- 
sonable to  us,  we  cannot  accept  as  truth.  Therefore 
it  is  as  unjust  for  a  Christian  god,  or  any  other  god 
for  that  matter  to  tell  us  to  "Believe  or  be  damned," 
as  it  would  be  for  such  a  god  to  tell  us  to  eat  garbage 
or  "be  damned."  "Vicarious  atonement"  is  simply  re- 
ligious garbage.  "Something  for  nothing"  is  moral 
garbage.  They  go  together;  they  are  twins;  they  are 
the  essence  of  Christianity,  and  we  must  get  rid  of 
these  ideas  even  at  the  risk  of  being  "damned"  by  the 
man-made  Christian  god  that  exists  only  in  religiously 
uneducated,  unthinking  minds  of  millions  of  honest,  well 
meaing  people  whose  religious  mentality  was  placed 
in  a  mental  dungeon  in  infancy,  where  the  Sun  of 
Truth  and  Reason  never  shines ;  where  tne  thunder- 
cloud of  "Believe  or  be  damned'"  shuts  out  the  genial 
light  of  liberty,  and  forbids  us  the  right  to  choose  that 
which  seems  sane,  reasonable  or  good  to  us. 


IS  CHRISTIANITY  A  FAILURE?  251 

Christianity  itself  must  reform  or  "be  damned."  In- 
telligence demands  that  Christianity  drop  its  ancient 
viciousness — salvation  through  blood  and  crime — and 
become  civilized,  refined,  reasonable'  helpful  and  hu- 
manitarian, teaching  salvation  through  kind  acts  ,noble 
deeds  and  knowledge  or  get  out  of  the  way  with  its: 
Believe  Vicarious  atonement  or  be  damned>-  foolish- 
ness. 

We  are  not  responsible  for  our  likes  or  dislikes, 
DUT  loves  or  our  hates.  Most  people  like  ice  cream. 
especially  girls.  Now  wouldn't  it  be  just  awful  for 
some  man-made  god  to  come  along  and  say:  "Dislike 
ice  cream  or  be  damned!" 

The  girls  might  honestly  "try"  to  dislike  ice  cream 
but  they  just  could  not  do  it;  they  would  crave  ice 
cream  all  the  more.  They  might  bow  their  heads  and 
mumble  that  they  just  hated  ice  cream  because  their 
man-made  god  commanded  it,  but — they  would  still 
like  ice  cream  in  spite  of  their  hypocracy.  They  could 
not  possibly  dislike  ice  cream  unless — they  disliked  it. 

On  the  other  hand,  if  their  man-made  god  told  them 
to  love  rotten  apples  or  "be  damned"  they  would  sure- 
ly be  damned'  for  they  could  not  possibly  love  rotten 
apples,  because  they  are  not  built  that  way,  and  if 
they  bowed  their  heads  and  said  they  loved  rotten  ap- 
ples they  would  be  fibbing. 

The  same  reasoning  holds  good  with  this  "Vicarious 
atonement" — let  George  or  Jesus  suffer  for  my  sins — 
religious  rotten  apples. 

Millions  of  people  are  so  constituted  that  reason  and 
justice  to  them,  is  the  same  as  mental  ice  cream,  and 
they  love  it  as  dearly  as  most  girls  love  real  ice  cream. 
They  see  no  justice  or  reason  in  "Vicarious  atonement" 
(an  innocent  person  suffering  for  the  crimes  of  the 
guilty)  and  will  shun  it-  therefore  the  Christian  god 
says:  "Depart  ye  into  everlasting  hell-fire."  How 
sweet  and  considerate!  What  a  lovely  thing-  Chris- 
tianity is  as  it  comes  from  the  lips  of  ancient  priests, 


252  IS  CHRISTIANITY  A  FAILURE? 

brought  down  through  the  ages  to  us  by  the  Bible  and 
echoing  through  our  modern  churches. 

Standing  alone,  each  individual  and  each  nation  is  a 
weakling.  We  are  all  interdependent ;  dependent  on  each 
other.  We  are  all  dependent  on  an  unseen  Power  and 
Intelligence ;  on  Spirit,  on  God.  The  strongest  individual 
or  nation  should  not  think  for  an  instant  that  mortals  can 
do  without  this  Spiritual  Force,  which,  in  the  absence  of 
a  better  name,  we  call  God  or  Creator,  knowing  as  little 
of  what  we  are  talking  about  as  the  minnow  knows  about 
the  great  ocean  in  which  it  lives,  moves  and  enjoys  life. 

None  of  us,  nations  or  individuals,  should  make  the 
mistake  of  forgetting  our  Creator  when  prosperity  is 
with  us.  We  should  remember  that  there  will  come  times 
of  trouble.  We  should  try  and  make  ourselves  worthy 
of  help,  when  needed,  from  the  unseen,  little  known 
Power  above  and  around  us,  when  such  times  of  trouble 
come;  when  we  need  help  greater  than  mortal  man  can 
give.  In  times  of  our  greatest  strength  and  prosperity 
we  should  remember  our  weakness  and  dependence  on 
the  Intelligent  Power  that  brought  us  into  consciousness 
on  earth  and  will  take  us  away  again  when  our  time 
comes.  Just  as  the  ocean  is  too  vast  for  the  minnow  to 
comprehend,  God  is  a  million  times  harder  for  us  to 
understand.  We  can  only  behold  His  works ;  wonder, 
admire  and  feel  grateful  for  blessings  showered  upon  us 
by  showering  blessnigs  upon  those  below  us. 

We  should  forget  all  man-made  gods,  saviours  and 
idols,  but  remember  our  Creator  who  brought  us  to 
earth's  school  and  who  will  take  us,  Heathen  and  Chris- 
tian alike,  away  when  we  graduate.  We  should  not  think 
of  God  as  a  "Christian  God."  God  could  not  and  would 
not  be  "Christian"  any  more  than  He  could  or  would  be 
Mohammedan  or  Buddhist.  As  if  the  Creator*  Ruler 
and  Sustainer  of  all,  could  or  would  allow  a  handful  of 
human  microbes  on  one  of  his  most  insignificant  little 
stars,  to  name  Him  and  then  call  themselves  his  "chosen 
people." 

It  is  blasphemy  of  the  worst  sort  for  any  mortal  or 


IS  CHRISTIANITY  A  FAILURE?  253 

group  of  mortals  to  try  and  stand  on  their  mental  tip- 
toes and  attach  any  kind  of  a  label  to  the  Creator  of 
everything.  The  Creator  of  all  men,  animals,  vege- 
tables, minerals  and  innumerable  things  that  we  know 
nothing  of,  is  not  "Christian."  When  a  Christian  speaks 
of  a  "Christian  God,"  He  speaks  of  a  man-made  god.  The 
Christian  god  is  a  mental  image  of  the  unknown  and 
unknowable  Creator.  The  Mohammedan  and  Buddhist 
gods  are  man-made  also.  The  Creator  who  made  Chris- 
tians, Chinese,  Japanese  etc.,  is  not  "Christian,"  "Mo- 
hammedan" or  "Buddhist."  These  names  are  to  nar- 
row to  apply  to  Him.  Had  He  been  "Christian"  He 
never  would  have  made  a  "Heathen."  Had  He  been 
"Christian,"  He  never  would  have  made  a  "Buddhist" 
or  "Mohammedan." 

Our  Creator  has  made  far  more  so  called  Heathens 
than  Christians,  If  He  had  wanted  more  Christians  than 
Heathens,  He  has  had  plenty  of  time  in  which  to  make 
them.  Up  to  the  preset  time  we  have  a  right  to  sup- 
pose that  God  likes  Heathens  the  best  because  He  made 
more  of  them. 

Any  man  or  woman  who  pretends  to  know  more 
about  our  Creator,  than  the  average  intelligent  person, 
only  pretends,  and  usuaally  uses  such  pretentions  to  gain 
worldly  influence-  pleasure  and  power  over  his  fellow 
creatures ;  social  preferment  and  money.  Beware  of 
such  men  and  women.  They  teach  provincialism,  part- 
isanship, denominationalism,  clanishness,  selfishness, 
bigotry,  superstition,  ancient  error  and  ignorance.  They 
divide  the  people  into  hostile  camps. 

The  world  needs  a  broader  creed,  a  grander  reli- 
gious view  and  thought;  a  higher  religious  ideal  that 
teaches  that  all  men  are  God's  children  whether  they 
realize  it  or  not  and  must,  in  time  treat  each  other  as 
such.  Each  granting  to  others  the  privilege  of  going  or 
coming  to  God  in  a  manner  suitable  to  themselves  and 
God  only.  In  other  words,  matters  between  God  and 
the  individual  should  be  left  to  God  and  the  individual. 
Others  should  not  interfere.  Others  should  help  the 


254  IS  CHRISTIANITY  A  FAILURE? 

individual  in  worldly  affairs  and  let  the  individual  set- 
tle his  Godly  affairs  himself. 

If  religion  will  spread  this  thought,  it  will  in  time 
reach  the  heart  of  the  world  and  change  it  from  hate  to 
love,  from  war  to  peace,  from  greed  to  generosity. 

Until  the  heart  of  the  world  is  reached  and  changed 
it  is  silly  to  look  for  wars  to  end.  Nothing  but  religion 
can  change  the  heart  of  the  world.  Girls,  here  is  your 
opportunity  and  duty.  Break  loose  from  ancient  er- 
roneous religious  thought  and  bring  heaven  to  earth. 
You  can  do  it  and  will  do  it,  helped  by  the  better  class 
of  men. 


CONCLUSION 

Realizing  that  we  all  should  give  as  much  to  life  as  we 
get  out  of  it,  that  the  greatest  need  of  humanity  is  less 
selfishness  and  more  service,  and  that  the  greatest  qual- 
ity a  person  can  possess  is  kindness,  it  is  my  desire  to 
aid  in  planning  and  establishing  a  new  movement  to 
better  religious  and  economic  conditions;  to  aid  in  es- 
tablishing a  nearer  approach  to  truth  and  justice  in  these 
matters,  going  as  far  in  this  direction  as  the  peoples' 
present  evolution  will  allow. 

It  is  my  desire  to  be  given  wisdom  and  power  to 
help  people  to  help  themselves;  to  plant  correct  ideas, 
both  religious  and  economic,  in  the  garden  of  the  mind 
where  they  may  grow  and  produce  fruit  after  their  kind. 

I  realize  that  I,  alone,  am  liable  to  do  more  harm 
than  good,  as  my  vision  is  so  limited  and  my  personal 
knowledge  so  small  that  I,  of  myself,  without  the  aid 
of  the  (to  mortals)  unseen  Intelligence,  I  despair  of  ever 
accomplishing  anything  wotrh  while,  as  the  forces  of 
hypocracy  in  religion  and  greed  in  economics  are  so 
thoroughly  organized  and  intrenched  behind  age  old  laws 
and  customs  that  they  cannot  be  successfully  opposed 
by  any  singele  individual  unaided  by  a  power  higher 
than  earthly  man. 

I  see  before  me  every  day  a  world  of  trouble  that 
I  wish  to  help  lessen-  as  it  pains  me  to  behold  it,  and  it 
lessens  my  own  happiness  on  earth.  I  admit  that  I  am 
selfish  in  the  matter.  I  wish  to  help  others  so  their 
groans  will  not  disturb  me.  I  wish  to  banish  sorrow 
and  pain,  or  as  much  of  it  as  possible,  because  I  hate 
it  and  do  not  think  it  necessary.  And  because  reliev- 
ing the  heavy  burdens  of  others  is  the  only  way  I  can 
make  my  own  life  happier. 

I  do  not  care  to  be  divine.  I  had  rather  be  the  first 
coming  of  myself  than  to  be  the  second  coming  of  any- 
body. I  do  not  love  all  man-kind.  I  do  not  love  the  hate- 
ful, ignorant,  superstitious  people  who  are  drunken  with 


256  IS  CHRISTIANITY  A  FAILURE? 

greed  and  self  indulgence;  some  calling  themselves 
Christians  while  calling-  others  heathens.  But  I  pity 
them  and  must  necessarily  do  all  I  can  to  aid  them  to 
climb  higher  in  order  to  climb  higher  myself,  as  I  am  a 
part  of  them. 

I  am  aware  that  the  world  usually  spits  on  a  reformer 
when  he  is  living,  kills  him,  then  throws  flowers  on  his 
grave.  I  can  get  along  very  nicely  without  either  spit 
or  flowers  from  others.  But  would  be  glad  to  join  with 
intelligent,  well  meaning  men  and  women  to  try  and 
make  earthly  conditions  better  than  they  are  at  present. 

If  my  efforts  are  worthy  of  approval  they  will  meet 
with  success.  If  not,  they  will  fail  and  I  will  be  content 
to  have  done  my  full  duty  as  I  saw  it. 


I  WILL 

Straight  ahead,  my  course  I  will  pursue, 

That  which  my  conscience  judges  right  and  true. 

Though  my  feelings  may  be  hurt,  or  body  bruised,  by 

the  unthinking  crowd, 
My  thought,  my  will,  my  soul   shall   soar,  cannot  be 

bowed. 

Sorrow,  pain,  and  even  death,  to  me  are  naught; 
All  the  powers  of  evil  cannot  curb  my  thought. 
My  conscience  is  the  Word  of  God  to  me; 
While  science  shall  my  true  religion  be. 
For  my  interpretation  of  God's  Plan 
Is:  strive  to  elevate  myself,  and  others,  all  I  can. 
The  priest  to  whom  I  look,  myself  to  guide, 
Shall  reason  be,  with  justice  by  its  side, 
Straight  ahead,  my  course  I  will  pursue; 
Out  of  a  grafting,  superstitious  world,  Til  help  to  build 

a  new. 


YC   15839 


— 


40154. 


UNIVERSITY  OF  CALIFORNIA  LIBRARY 


